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Leader (1850-1860), 15th November 1851, Edition Town of 2, Page 1082, Untitled Article

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      November 13 , 1851 . "Dear Sir , —I am much obliged " to you for yonr manly and direct appeal . I am . aware that nay conduct has undergone the usual fate attending public men . Perhaps the working classes hiaTe begun to show a confidence in me which , may be regarded as inconvenient by some who dislike any competitor for popular favour . If such persons th « re are , they may lay aside their fears : I compete with no man . In dealing with any man , or any party , I act solely for the speci 8 ed objects m view , without regard to other objects or other persons .

      " I h * ve made it a rule in private life , and I intend to adhere to the same rule in public , never to defend myaelf . I will give you my reasons for that rule . My conduct is always dictated either by my sense of what is riant and reasonable , or by my own inclination ; but in either case it is very idle for a man to expect that others will adopt his judgment as their own ; yet , to defend yourself is to attempt to persuade others into adopting your owti view of your conduct . I desire to leave the judgment of others free : I have seldom much , deference forin inion opposed to my own resolve already formed ,

      op and have no value for any approval that is not perfectly spontaneous . The most that I can do , if it is needed , is to inform others what my conduct has been . "As the newspaper to which you refer never falls within the range of my reading , I do not know what may be its claims to the confidence of the working classes . If there are any men who have formed a judgment on the statement of one side , I hare no desire to gam their judgment over to my side : it can scarcely be worth having . But I can never withold information from one who makes so frank an appeal as you do , in so excellent

      4 I do not consider myself at liberty to state all that passed in the preliminary arrangements of the Kossttth demonstration ; and as I withhold some particulars , I am quite willing to remain under the responsibility from which the statement of those particulars Would exonerate me . I will add that , even if I could obtain licence to state those particulars , I do not think it worth while to do ao . I will give you quite materials enough , for making your own judgment , and have not the slightest wish to conciliate ' a verdict . " I was made aware that , if Mr . Feargus O Connor were to take a recognized or prominent part in the demonstration organized by the Central Committee , M . Kossuth would not accord us his presence . I heartily

      agreed in the propriety of that determination on the part of M . Kossuth . I refer you to the reports in the papers for what passed at Southampton to warrant the reluctance to act on the same ground with Mr . Feargus O'Connor . I refer you to language uttered by Mr . O'Connor at the Kossuth meetings in Finsbury and in the South Londonhall—detailed allusions to the person of the Sovereign against which the person of any woman ought to be sacred . I refer you to the conduct of Mr . O'Connor at the Highbury-barn banquet—his placing a chair on the table and sitting there , and passing his arms round M . Louis Blanc . Those public facts , in my estimation , are sufficient to show that he does not retain sufficient selfcontroul to take part in proceedings of a public and formal nature . M . Kossuth did not require Mr . O'Connor ' s exclusion from the room , and I never said that he did . M . Kossuth dictated no details nor particular

      arrangements . It was for such reasons as those which I have indicated , that I invited the committee to consider the mode in which we could secure the decorum of the proceedings , in a manner the least vexatious to the individual , but effective for the purpose . The deliberation of the committee ultimately led to the plan adopted , — that of admitting only those to whom tickets had been given , by name . The committee took that course unanimously . On the Monday , to avoid a disturbance which might have marred , though it could not have defeated , the glorious demonstration of that day , I took upon myself to depart from the order * of the committee , and to admit Mr . O'Connor , on the promise which he gave , and in which a friend of his jojued , that he nhould take no part in the proceedings . The committee have since adopted a resolution approving of my conduct at Copenhagen-house .

      " Such are the facts . I will add to the naked statement but a few observations . I have been told by more than one leader of the political party to which Mr . Feargua O'Connor belongs , that what was done was right in itself , but that it ought to have been , done * under the rose , ' privately . I object to doing things under the rose ; I decline , for my own part , to proceed in any but u perfectly open and direct manner . I have been told that ' cannot act ho , to ttuoh a man ; ' and that the conduct which Bcems to me ho objectionable must be tolerated for the sake of the pant . 1 <) o not understand how any man can acquire a vested right to aBsiut in public proceedings one instant after Iuh assistance ia useful . 1 have no personal feeling in the matter . Mr . O'Connor is not among my personal friends , I have no associations

      that bind me to him . 1 have defended him from charges connected with his land scheme ; 1 have recognized the heartiness of hia public uervice ; 1 never thought him otherwise than a foolish man , detrimental to the popular cause . It ia now painful to witness that which hiu friends insist upon his right to keep before the public ; and 1 do not understand how any man of good feeling , to Bay nothing of democratic opinion , can recognize uuch a right . Secure the comfort of an old public servant in every possible way , —let his friendn exert themselves in thut behalf , and utrangers will help them , even those who have formerly refused to udmit that his Berviors were of the best . JJut I deny the rxyld of any man to be recognized as a public servant , an mutant after he ceases to be useful .

      " I do not understand this murmur of personal considerations which I hear around me . I deal only with the body of the working claaaea ; I avow my opinions , in otconoiny , in politics , in religion , without reserve or «} u&llu . oauon ; if my countrymen of the working elftfla

      think me useful , they will trust me so long as my actions are of an useful kind ; if they thine otherwise , they will leave me . I have to thank them , indeed , for many tokens of personal confidence ; I have formed among them many personal friendships which will outlast any turns of fortune ; but the tenure of public ftonfidenee must rest on a sterner rule than personal regard . If I am thought harsh in ray view , I do not wish , to be thought otherwise : ' The interests of the people have been played with too long . I will not join in the game . Usefulness to the public ^ advancement of public objects—those are the only things which I regard . As I have done in the past , I shall continue to do in the future—I hqpe with more efficiency as mutual experience enables my political friends and myself to understand , each , other more , thoroughly . " Again , my dear Sir , let me thank you for the kind and manly directness of your appeal . ' Yours , most sincerely , THOBNTON Hunt . "

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      KOSSUTH DBMOJfSTBATIQJf COMMITT « B . The subjoined resolution wa » passed at a meeting of the Kossuth Demonstration Committee ou Thursday night . " That , a question having been , raised respecting the proceedings at Copenhagen-house on the 3 rd instant , the following statement of facts be recorded , and forwarded to the . newspapers . .. 11 The sole object of the Committee jn the . arrangements for Monfey , ihe 3 rd instanf , was to ; make the demonstration as effective , and therefore as orderly , as possible . " The Committee knew that Mr . O'Connor ' s conduct could not be relied upon ; as his behaviour on previous and recent occasions proved that his actions were not under his own control , v

      " The Committee had had assurances that M . Kossuth objected to receiving an address if Mr . Feargus O'Connor took part in the proceedings , and the Committee made their arrangements accordingly . " On the 10 th instant the Committee passed a resolution approving of the conduct of the Chairman on the 3 rd instant " A . E . Dejlafokce , Financial Secretary . "

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      CONTINENTAL NOTES . The majority , by the mouth of their reporter , M . N . Daru , have rejected the proposition for the repeal of the law of the 31 st of May . The tenor of this sophistical apology for a law of enmity and provocation may lie judged from one sentence , -which affirms that " Universal Suffrage consists in the generality of those in whom the law recognizes the- * apafcity of electors "; in other words , that a £ reat pniwaple is to be interpreted according to the whim df a reactionist

      majority , by an ex post facto expedient , and that an article of the Constitution , the law of laws , may be set aside by a measure of exceptional rancour , under the subterfuge of moralitation . The xeport states that no measure has contributed more to the cause of order than the limitation of the suffrage ; that it was a law of morality ; that it excludes from , the ballot none but houseless vagabonds or criminals , so that we are to believe that 3 , 200 , 000 of the population of France are in one or other of these

      categories . If it has done so much for the cause of " Order , " how is it that every succeeding Ministry has adopted a severer policy of compression , arid has resorted to acts of the most arbitrary violence on the plea of the ' public safety " ; . that ' mne departments are in a state of siege ; the ordinary tribunals superseded ; the whole country a network of police spies and gendarmerie ; every kind of liberty suspended ; Paris garrisoned by an army of occupation ; and , in fine , the actual situation of affairs more revolutionary and more threatening than we have seen since December ' 48 ? The truth

      remains that the law of the 31 , ut of May , intended to be a reply of the Parliamentary reactionist majority to the Klectoral republican majority who had returned three Sociulist candidates for Paris , was a revolution ary act ; an act of defiance , an appeal from right to force .

      The hesitation and inconsistency of the majority in this emergency which their own blind obstinacy , as well as the President ' s initiative , and the reserve of the Republican party , has created , appear in a « hy and furtive promise of modifications : —of " ameliorations , which justice may recommend nnd experience shall have indicated . " Under cover of the « o ameliorations do the majority think to . reserve the chance of a prudent retreat , without loss of dignity ? The report Bays , that to consent to complete abrogation would lie u guilty wcukuess ; to sacrifice the guarantee of a three years' residence would be equivalent to abrogation . It , therefore , concludes for the roniutenuiicu of th « principle , reserving the poswibility of introducing modifications through the new communal law .

      All the weakness of a capitulation with all tho perils of obstinacy : such i » this report . The Kepuhlican opposition accepts of nothing lefts than entire restoration of universal Huflrage . The Manage of tho President deprives the law of limited suffrage , of all moral force , of ull possibility of application . It throws tho whole weight of unpopulurity , unil tho whole responsibility of events , upon the . Legislative mujority . la order to protest more significantly ugfcinat tho execution of thu law of tho 3 lnt , of Moy ,

      the electors of Paris are convoked for the last of thin month . As the election to ail the vacant seat of General Magnan might have been legally adjourned to January next , suspicions of the President ' s sincerity in . desiring to reestablish universal suffrage were naturally excited by this unusual precipitation But an atticle in thei . Bulletin de Paris , an official Bonapartist journal , recommends this election as a fit occasion for a decisive protest against limited suffrage by a general abstention from voting . All the Republican committees had resolved upon strict abstention ; the fusion of the Bonapartist in a

      similar policy looks like a thorough determination to break with the majority , but as from " one day to another the Ministry disavows the President and the President the Ministry , and the Assembly both ; whilst the reactionist fury of the Government continues unabated , and the intemperance of M . Louis Napoleon ' s imperial addresses to the military increases in virulence , we are at a loss to conjecture the upshot of the hostilities of the Assembl y and the Executive growing daily more intense as the crisis of their fate approaches . The majority , composed of the Bourbon factions ( the few Bonapartist adventurers having changed sides ) are united only n the suppression of liberties . They do not even

      maintain an upright and honest position of dignity and independence . To-day a hasty and unprovoked measure of aggression against the Executive , conceived in trepidation and insolent defiance ; tomorrow , when the Ministry is challenged on the fact that o representative of the people has been insulted and assaulted by the gendarmes , an utter indifference to the principle of inviolability and to the majesty of the Assembly attacked in the person of one of its members ; tacit connivance with the Executive , and the ?* order of the day , " because the insulted member is a Republican . If there could be- any chance of success for a coup d'etat it would be in the disgraceful weakness and violence , the utter absence of

      patriotism , and the factious insolence of the majority of the Assembly . What anarchy can equal the sayings and doiugs of the chiefs of the Party of Order ? M . Louis Napoleon , stung by the Assembly , makes a flaming harangue to the officers of the regiments lately arrived in Paris , on the anniversary of the 18 ( h of Brumaire . " Gentlemen , —In receiving the officers of the different regiments of the array who succeed each other in the garrison of Paris , I congratulate myself on seeing them animated with that spirit which was our glory , and which now constitues our security . I will not speak to you , therefore , either of your duties or of discipline . You have always performed your duties with honour , whether

      in the land of Africa , or the soil of France ; and you have always maintained discipline intact in the midst of the most difficult trials . I hope that these trials will not return ; but if the gravity of circumstances should renew them , and compel me to make an appeal to your devotedness , I am sure that I should not be disappointed , because you know that I demand nothing that is not in accord with my right ( recognized by the constitution ) , with military honour , and with the interests of the country ; because I have placed at your head men who have my entire confidence , and who merit yours ; because if ever the day of danger should arrive , I will not do as the governments which have preceded me have done ; l will not say to you , ' March , and I win follow you , otic I will say to you , ' / march , follow me' "

      Tho officers preeented to the President were to the number of 600 or 600 . They met at the Tuilcnes , ami marched thence through the Champs Elysees to me Elysee , and thence to the Ministry of War . March and follow me . " These words , in the mouth of a man who has no power to command four men and a corporal , " aie s ulliciently ahsuiu . Where on earth will he load his soldiers , unless ic be to the conquest of sausages and champagne , as the plains of Satory ? Anarchy ! Anarchy ! The persecutions of tho press have redoub ted m violence with the new Ministry . La Involution sacrificed to the manes of Carlier . , _ . _ „ DUtl Alll ^ CUl LI / iliu iiihiiuu \ J * ^ . v-. » -- — -. *

      run fL Eugene Bareato of La lVpublique ( than wnomn p urer and more temperate journalist does not cxw ; . is consigned to prison for having inserted on in < . of a subscriber a paragraph of false news , whc-ii nc had hastened to rectify on discovery . * et u - actionary journal * invented the inussncro w fcdurmcB by { Socialists , invented a jacquerie , kl ., 'Tro Wial journals and Republican almanack- m masse , are seized and prosecuted . At ' the opening of a new Orchestral Socic ^ som stanzas by Victor Hugo , written ior _ the / c . i » , were to be recited . They are in prawo «* «» J'JJ peace , and liberty . Unfortunately J ^^ Vo ' and . contains an allusion to Italy , HuI f Eh » las After This in enough for the protog ^ of JN i ( J > oi ^ . ^ an hour and a half ' s waiting a <*>»» " $ " ' . % lV ,, o interdicts the recitation l » y »« ^ , £ ' j , £ . Landor ' a noble Ode to KosHUth fo b dd < n mingham f Such » French laborty wm lBfil ^ Ah for French national honour , a letter trorn of November 7 nays : ^ ^ xcr _ « The influential personage * in £ »''"•[ " , ,, «» tni «» t tlon . Austria i . indebted for ^ ^^^ XeVvetlo re ward of Kosiiuth in Maraeilles , arc about to reoov ^ ^ their conduct merit , at the hand * of tuia Uoyo "

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  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 15, 1851, page 1082, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1909/page/6/