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Leader (1850-1860), 1st May 1852, Edition Town of 2, Page 409, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      *„« & *« to mj > a ! prostitution ^ ' * %£ ¦ ^^ X : ^ ^ fo rward our Queen as co-brdinato inauthonty with the vilest of dr rS ^ hen : the potteriuictibii o ^ England in Eur ™ eis---by ii ^^ rtd Bl ^ . «> ew ^^« . - ^«^ r ^ : ^^ ' ^ J ^? - « t ^ s ometitriesr-to promote true legitimacy , A mass of human ffijKd mes a riatfon , oifly when it is cehtietited into contfs-KS £ and moral unity bylaw ; by - law , winchia . the . same tonrrrtw as it was yesterday , and does not depend on individual vSnncT But this function of England to promote Intimacy is l £ « WeTOUsIr caricatured when interpreted to mean that EnglSidSt pi-omote English institutions , Qtfr particular form Jrfteffalify is adapted to a nation whiclrhaa a royal race , a ™<* a | e , Mid a commonalty , all socially independent ; and therefcfrfl capable of playing an independent political part . If any of rt « three elements dp not erist in a certain country , our form ia there manifestly impossible ; and if we urge its introduction , Sa / 1 o a mischief proportioned to our influence . Moreover , in

      WrdertKatthe king may be a sacred person , irresponsible at W and lif ted above partydispntea and attack , there must be national reverence for him .: This is a sentiment which cannot he created at will . As to force a husband on an unwilling widow is no honour to matrimony > so to force a king on an undesiring rVeODle is no honour to ; royalty ; If ations which have no kingly £ «! e or none that they can revere or trust , are essentially unrntalist If we are proud of ti \ vc old dak-trees ; shall we urge fhreieners to plant Saplings and be equally proud of them ? Stall we think to honour Queen Victoria by assuring her that rovalty can be raisedlike ahothouse plant ? True and legitimate . royalty »» ay rise again in Europe , as m ^ pld days , by bjeh services-which win a nation ^ heart ; but the . monstrous abftnrditv is . that whenever there appears any prospect of such an event- —whenever in time of revolution a citizen overtops his n « ,, nt , rvmen . and the intense love of his nation seems

      susceptible of ripening into loyalty and allegiance—then forthwith our nretended royalists clamour against him , and impute this continffericy as though Iringship were horrid tyranny ; wholly blind to the fact , that if ever royalty is to be again strengthened m Europe ; it is by the election of such men to be kings . _ In short , then / 1 avows Royalty is made sacred bjr its being the orcan of law ; royalty becomes beloved when it . yisibly loves rieht and justice more than royalty .. If Queen Victoria ' s responsible advisers urge her to .. manifest cordial sympathy with legitimate freedomy whether it appear in a form More or less like to our own , then the affections of the British people will be doubly rivefted to Tier children ' s throne . This is true royalist bolicy , and tm ' s is the genuine English policy . _^ . ^ _ But many of my audience will say — " Enough of these truisms : come to the pointy and say what we areto do . " Excuse me , that I regard these topics as nowise superfluous cautious

      to Englishmen . Excuse me further , if I reply m a order ^ f my own to the question , " what we are todo . ? ' England is a moral poWer , not indeed solely , yet primarily . _ The indirect result produced by our own lise of dominion is , in the long run , far-greater on Europe than any result from direct interference . If we arc tyrannical in our own administration , naturally our ministers haVe bad consciences ; they cannot deal with the boldness of innocence , they cringe to tyrants , they fear to establish precedents that condemn themselves ; nay , their own conduct is quoted as precedent against them . I am hereby forced into an argument owbieh I fear you may think out of place , on the government of English dependencies . You will Snar ine I mean India . Not India inparticular .. And of India , Who shall speak shortly ? The problem is immense : the moral embarrassments severe . We have done many things eminently well . The tribunals and the press are free , arbitrary arrests armies

      and spies unknown , race has no distinctions , the ordinary are native . But bureaucracy is absolute , malversations obscure , the delays of the law distressing , wars frequent and on the greatest scale ; taxation oppressive , the indigenous people poorer than ever ( at least through vast regions ) , a political career unp&ssible to natives , and discontent certain to increase with every increase of knowledge . If we sincerely desire good government , if we condemn official irresponsibility , we shall shortly be able to erect an Indian representative Assembly in England , authorized to demand publicity , to debate , and to address the Executive / This one splendid but cheap act ot justice to India would produce great moral effect on Europe , and ultimately on Asia . ¦ ' ¦ . ; ¦ ¦ ' ' ¦¦¦ ¦¦ ¦¦"¦' - . ' ¦ ' ¦ ¦ •¦ But I am thinking primarily of our Colonies . We are apt to be h'ttle aware how disastrous our glorious Devolution of 1638 has been to the Enclish dependencies . Previously the Crown

      had no spare force to domineer over them , and did not attempt it . The doctrine of old prevailed , that every British settler carried a Constitution about with him . Our American plantations made their own Houses of Assembly , as soon as they found they needed them ; and our Stuarta confirmed the procedure ministerially , as of course . But from the time when bond file Parliamentary government was established in England , our parliament began to act imperiously , arid after the union with Scotland counted itself absolute over Ireland and the Colonies . In modern days we have invented a . title descriptive of the usurpation : it is called the Imperial Parliament . Three Civil Wars have boon caused to us by its encroachment :-that with the American Colonies ; that with Ireland in 1709 ; and that with Canada in 1838 . The Irish Parliament had claimed to bo co-ordinate with that of England , and tho doterminatipn of the English ministry to evade and overbear this claim led to tho embroilments and

      severities out of which the war at length issued . * As to tho war with Canada , into whfoh the Colonial Ottlee plunged tho nation unawares and unwilling it was so flagrantly unjust that our ministors , when successful , conceded to Canada all that she had wanted . Neverthejess , uince thia . in tho last ton years , we hare by similar claims of dominion alienated the loyalty of all our more recent colonies , —in the Capo , Van Piemen ' Land , Australia , and Now Zealand . To judgo by tlio past , wo shall have no civil wars with these , and whether victorious or defeated , snail then at lost oonoedo that their parliaments are co-ordinate with our own ; that British subjects do not loso oitiiconship by colo nising ; that our colonists aro to havo a country , politioul irocaom , and a political stage open to them ; that n colony ianofc » more field for our ministerial patronage , but in England renewal * her youth . " _ . „

      vonsmer the weight of this topio on Europe , umy a ww months ago , a coalition of the despots against JCnglinb . freedom was a danger not to ho undervalued . It is now pnst . WhyP ¦ Ueoauso Kosauth lias roused Amoricn , The dospota now know , wo can got iui ardent American allianoe , whenever thoy « nve us to ask it ; and thia is a risk they will mwer bring on jnomselveB purposely . If America is still suoh a strength to our 'rooaom , what would ahe have boonifour parliament had novOr us urped power oVcr her . —if b 1 » o had boon ullowod by us to ?

      the excellent Ancient fashion of declaratory lau > . - Let our parliament simply arid plainly avow * that " the Colonies have a natuml right to Construct their own organs of self-government ; provided only that the inalienable freedom of individuals , the integrity of the empire , and the lawful prerogative of the Crown , be not compromised " By one such act we should cut the knot of all our colonial difficulties , return to our old freedom , renounce tyranny , and come with a clearer conscience to help legality in , Europe . ' ¦' .. [ ,: ' '' ' ... '¦¦¦ ¦ I seem . to remember an expression used by- a late Minister , that the-excliequer could not be relieved of the charge of eolo nial garrisons , because the troops were necessary for the retention of the colonies' If we dare not withdraw our armies , what is this but a confession that our sway is tyrannical ? But to pretend that ive ; dare not is a slander on the colonists , who hate onl y . the bureaucracy of the Colonial Office . This alone it is which undermines their loyalty to Our Queen .

      But a more immediate efffect on Europe is produced from our dependencies in the Mediterranean . Of our strangely arbitrary dealings in Gibraltar and Malta I have no time to speak , but the Ionian Islands is a truly grievous case . I do not refer solely to the government of Sir Henry Ward . The melancholy phenomenon is wider than one man ' s personality . Allow me to sketch the outline of the history . The Crown of Great Britain assumed the protection of these islands in 1815 . A constitution was given them , for in those days the tide set that way . But our Government had no intention of making their parliaments co-ordinate : with our own : they were to pe nothingbut a screen to conceal a really irresponsible bureaucracy . The islands learnt in time what English freedom was , and found they had it not .. Discontent and . murmurs ensued . The press was not left free > Ill-will increased . Official people were displeased and suspicious . At . length on occasion of partial and private

      crime , the Government proclaimed martial law . The press strongly censured the proceeding . The Governor arbitrarily banishes editors , publishers , and readers . And noWi after thirty-five years , our despotisin is thoroughly undisguised . The hideous mark of tyranny is permanently displayed , to the triumph of the absolutists—foreign armies and fleets crushing Greek liberty ! Until we maintain the internal peace exclusively by iative Greek forces , our case is ostensibly that of the Eussians in Poland and of the Austrians in Iiombardy . Our Parliament is under a fundamental delusion : it has forgotten its own origin : it fancies , like kings of old . that its rights come down from , heaven , and are not derived from men ; but we know the authority of the Commons is derived from its electors ^ that of the Lords from their baronies . Their inherent authority Can only be ' commensurate with the soil of Great Britain . Our Parliament is indeed : ereater than , yet it is only

      coordinate in rank veith , the Parhament . of the Ionian Islands , which are united to England solely in Qie Queen . At present our Cabinet is constitutionalist in England , but absolutist in our dependencies . How vital this subject is to the affairs of Europe appears in our heartless behaviour to Hungary . Early in the hist century , when Austria was our ally , and we had aided her to the victories of Blenheim and Kamilies , we sent an ambassador to Hungary , with which she was at war , and we assisted in 17 X 2 to make the peace of Satmar . In 1848 the Emperor of Austria abdicated in favour of his nephew . The Hungarian diet on constitutional ¦ gr ounds , refusecTtb accept the nephew as king , and a national war arose . ( The details I purposely-omit . ) Did , then , our Ministry retrace their old precedent , and send an ambassador to Hungary , in order to > mediate a peace ? No . Did they receive the Hungarian envoy ? No . WhyiiQt ? Lord Palmerston assigned as his reason ( you may read it in the Blue-book ) , that England knew nothing about Hungary except as part of the Austrian empire !—So , we had forgotten the peace of Satmar ! We did not know that the kingdom of Hungary is eight

      centuries old , and that m Hungarian law Austria is a foreign country ! t "Why » " * Ws fprgetfulness ? Plainly because the usurpation of an Austrian bureaucracy on Hungary was too similar to that of English bureaucracy on Ireland , and still more recently on Canada and on the Ionian Islands . Prince Schwarzenberg Well knew that the men who had abetted the Canadian war might be insulted by him boldty . £ If they would but have recognised Hungary as ( what she manifestly was ) a nation at war with Austria , and deserving from us simple neutrality , the Hungarians could have commanded any supply of arms' from England . I understand that a ship waa laden and ready to sail ; but they played into the hands of unjust aggression , and we have reaped from it insult and danger . ] Our first business , you Will admit , is to mend ourselves ; but as the indirect benefit to Europe , thence to ensue , can come but slowly , this duty does not supersede more immediate aotion . I shall endeavour to approach the question , " What we are to do , " from its negative side , which is the safer course . After seeing what is absurd or unjust , the choioo of conduot is exceedingly narrowed .

      [ We regrot to bo compolled , at tho last moment , from extreme prossuro on our space , to defer tho concluding portion of thia valuable Lecture till next week . —Ed . of Leader ^] After Professor Newman ' s lecture , Mr . Masson , tho bocretary of fcho society , made a fow observations on some points arising out of the lecture ; and tho proceedings of tho evening woro wound up by an address from M . Mazzini . M . Mazzini , on this occasion , directed his remarks chiefly to two objections , prevailing in some quarters in this country , against such movements as that of tho Italian patriots—tho objection that " revolution is a sad thing , and calm progression much hotter ; " and tho objection that " in all revolutions life must bo saorificod on both sides . " Tho longth to which our roporfc of Profossor Nowman ' s locturo has oxtonded , unfortunately prevents us from laying M . Mazzini ' s admirable answers to thoao objections before our readers . Two brief passages must

      suffice to indicate their tenor . Spealniig in answer to the query of pppofleiits , " Why do you not trust to the gtadual influence of education ? " it . Mazzini , after characters izing " Education , " aii ' -it is understood and practised in Italy by the priests , said : — . " Ah ! had I children of my own in Italy , and should I forget that their life is to be spent in bondage , I would , rather than to cramp or pervert their intellect under such a tuition , leave them , unlearned , untaught , to the untutored spontaneity of their beautiful Italian -instincts , to the inspirations that come from our own blue radiant sky from our own Alps and sea ; to the mighty ruins situated around them , to the great everlasting book of God and Hature . There , at least , they would leam what their country has been , what it is called to be . In the schools which you urge us to erect , they would only learn bigotry , ; servihty , passive brute-like submissiveness—perhaps , to curse or denounce their proscribed father . " Speaking to those who object to revolutions on the ground that they " take away life , " M . Mazzini said :

      " I must remind them of a simple , sad , prominent fact—that life is actually taken away , taken away by Austrian bullets—by slow Roman dungeon-fever—by the miseries of exile—by unavoidable consequences , of often - renewed ¦ partial efficacy , which no moral preaching or friendly advice will ever suppress , as long as tyranny shall be hateful , and man be born for liberty taken away , since perhaps forty years , when our national struggle first began—taken away from the best , the purest , the bravest—taken away by _ the wicked . Is the life of the pure and brave to be left , for an indefinite period , at the mercy ot" the foul and wicked ? Are we not bound to protect , by all means in our hands , their lives , and leave God to provide for the unavoidable consequences of this fulfilled duty ? And if we can enthrone joyful , loving Peace , only through a short , decisive , final struggle —if to this long , cruel , half-patent , half-concealed war , which exists , which we have not originated , which appeals to us for our aid , we can substitute a better , a single good loyal battle for the Eight—shall we not say , ' blessed be the battle which will cancel war during many generations to come , ' and fight it bravely after a prayer , and in the broad daylight of God ?"

      Untitled Article

      LETTERS FROM PARIS . [ From our own Correspondent . ] Letter XVII . Paris , Tuesday Evening , 27 th April , 1852 . The event of the week has been the Judgment of the Tribunal of Paris , relative to the property-of the family of Orleans . The State has recently taken possession of STeuilly andMonceauXjtwoof the domains of the house of Orleans . The Administrators of the property of the Orleans family had protested against the illegality of

      these proceedings , and had brought the matter before the Tribunal of Premiere Instances of Paris . The Prefect of the Seine , in the name of the Government , had opposed the bringing of the business before that tribunal , and required that it should declare itself incompetent . The terms in which this demand was couched were most threatening ; it contained the following words : — " the tribunals have no right to interfere in the acts of the Government ; by such conduct they expose themselves to the severities of the Government , and the tribunals are warned to consider the results

      to which their verdict might lead . Notwithstanding these threats , the Judges , by an act of intrepidity to vvh ch they have not lately been much accustomed , declared themselves competent , by a majority of eight to one , to sit upon the case . The decision produced an immense effect in Paris . The Judges are unanimously commended for this unexpected display of courage . As for the Elysde , it was dumbfounded at the intelligence . Its blustering and sanguinary hangers-on were for transporting the Judges to Cayenne forthwith . One of them said that for such an act of independence somo promotion was

      due , and that all the councillors should bo raised to the dignity of presidents—in the colonies . Another said , these follows arc playing at parliament ; let uh , then , liko Louis XIV ., invade the seat of justice with onr riding-whips . A third , a reputed swaggerer , the Colonel Lepic , said , these gentlemen would cancel tho Decree of the 22 nd of January , let them take heed we don't cancel them , in thoir turn . M . IJonaparto recoived tho intelligence much more phlegmatically . He was at the Opera , when M . Borger , tho Prefect of tho Seine , entered his box , and said , " Prince , we have lost our trial . " L . Bonaparte made no reply , but meroly

      twirled his moustncho , with that braggart air which he assumes since tho 2 nd of December . What will the Government now do ? is a question which each person asks himself . It was reported , at first , that tho affair would bo brought before the Court of Appeal , but it now appears that tho case will bo submitted to tho Council of State . What tho result would bo in tho hands of tho Council of State can easily be anticipated : tho Orlounists would bo defeated , and tho Government would at ono stroke rid itself of thoir claims . Truly tho invontion of a Coxincil of State was n capital idea .

      It would appear that M . Dupin , tho spiteful' exproBidont of tho National Assembly , who organized tho opposition of tho magistracy , as soon ns tho verdict had boon delivered , w ' ont tip to tho reporters' desk , and said , sufficiently loud to bo hoard throughout the court , " Gontlomon , you seo in thin verdict an acfc of grout courage ; it now depends on tho press to show us much—forward ! " As for that , tho opposition is universal among nil classes of socioty , excepting tho peasantry , who persist in mistaking Louis Honaparto for tho great Emperor . Tho Archbishop of Pari&is hostile

      Untitled Article

      ron ^* ? J l 080 ' Ir J « i * Parliament was annihilated , and Irish 5 * P ^ oentativoa introduced into tho iirttlah 1 ' arliivmont . Tlufi jCi Ji bon ° fl tod Ireland , and has enormously embarrassed m ? X ' S vory rosnoot ; eioent that of Riving to the king one 8 £ ? 5 & a ^ d thor b ? ( ostensibly ) ono policy in Europe . Its viMtt » l-th . o *«< li >) W # Mttil b « moanured by tho vniue of tbi * rosnU .

      Untitled Article

      • In old days , while our parliaments were fighting tho buttlo of freedom , thoy were fond of broad moral truths . But now , the inatinot of absolutism tonohes thorn to ovado popular and general onunoiutions , which tie u ]> despotio discretion . \ ' > y now love to deoido ouch matter on ita own sopivnvto ground , in whjeh ease a lawyor-lilco subtloty can always juHtity whatever la at tho moment convenient . It ia thought to indicate a » m » - praatiaal intellect , to settle more by a mnglo Act than tho point which ia jutit than forood on for dooiaion . , TliUHttapooial Bill ja needed to oonstruot tho machinery ot Iroddom for eaoh colony . Evory suoh bill ia tedious , elaborate , and

      liablo to fail of passing from numoroua ouusoh , upt u > < " « - ploase tho colony when passed | If this is to bo the way that wo legislate , it ia to t » o loured that nil tho colonies will hiWi * revolted beforo the billa whioU 4 ro to do tl » om justico cun hrtvo passoa . Huroly tho only part whidh tho Homo Parliamont should roHorvo to it ^ elf'ia that of oonfirminy tlio o ' raanio work of tho oolonlstn . This would giVo it a voto on anything unconstitutional in new mnohinorv . , , f So able a man iw Lord Palmerflton cannot lmvo boon it / norant a& to those miittors . Indood tho able dtwpak'hos ot Mr . Ill iu > kwell laid open tho whole oontrovorwy to tho Foreign OHloo ua oarly as ' February and March , 1818 . It ie muniloatthat tho noblo lord oondesoondod to booomo tho mouthpiooe of Wicowpotont ooUoagues .

      Untitled Article

      : . M * tH ipi « f 2 . ] : ; ' : ; . ¦ ittfiUMAfii . ¦ ¦ ' m ¦ ¦ ' • ¦ • • " ' ' ¦• ' : ' _ ¦' ' ' ' ' " ' ¦ ¦¦ '¦ ' ; " ¦ - /;; ¦ ' . - iT ; ¦ | . ' -v-. ( r- » ' ¦ : ¦¦ _ — - - ¦ '¦ - ¦ ¦¦ ¦ . ¦ " .. ¦ ¦ ' ¦ . ' - ¦ . ¦ ¦ ¦ . ' . ..... - ¦ . . ... . . -, ¦ ¦ , ¦ . ¦ . ¦ . ¦ ¦ ¦• ¦¦• ¦ ¦ . . ^ ' ; ii __^^^_^____^ l _ H _

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 1, 1852, page 409, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1933/page/5/