Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 5th August 1854, Edition 1 of 2, Page 722, Untitled Article

Page 722
Page 2
2 of 24

On this page

  • Text (3)

      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.

    • Untitled Article

      Untitled Article

    • Untitled Article

      Untitled Article

    • Untitled Article

      Untitled Article

  • Transcript

    • 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.

      Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

      Untitled Article

      losition of this Mr . Lawley ; what was the coni-Qon topic of the City changes and the West-end : lubs could not have failed to reach the ears of the Dabinet ; and we are , also , compelled to connect ; he acceptance of office and of the Chiltern Hun-Ireds by Mr . Lawley , with % h& election for the vacant borough of Mr . Gordon , the son of the Premier . From first to last the affair was a job , in whicK four Ministers at least are implicated : and it is a

      disgrace to the House © f Common * that the jobbers are not punished as well as the victims . There is , perhaps , this difficulty , that the aristocratic system on -which this free country is governed is in itself a huge job , not very manageable at a period ¦ when most of the popular members are such Ministerialists . For it will of course be observed that it was a Tory leader , and not a Radical purist , who seized the scandal .

      There are some other jobs from which a selection might be made for a popular debate if the Independents were not so slavish and sluggish . " Supply" on Monday night was the elimination of a series of jobs ; and we have given a full report of the remarkable proceedings on that occasion in order that our portion of the " people " may see and -wonder at the alacrity -with -which people ' s-members fight the aristocracy on expenditure . Lord Ellenborough gave the hint early in the session that a time of war is the time to be economical in minor matters ; but judging from

      the px * eserit tendency of the guardians of the public purse , we are disposed to think slightingly of the intellect of Mr . James Wilson , who , as Secretary to the Treasury could pass estimates three times as high as those he presents . It suits not our purpose , however , to take any but the most obvious jobs : —those coming under the head of supply are complicated . For instance , the job in the Ordnance . Mr . L . Vernon asks in the House ¦ wh y Sir Something Somebody i 3 appointed Lieutenant-General of Ordnance over the head

      of his senior officer , Sir John Burgoyne : — this being contrary to all military rule , and , according to the testimonials proffered by various members in the House , excessively unjust to a firsts-rate man , as Sir John Burgoyne is acknowledged to be . The incapable Clerk to the Ordnance , representing it in the House , answers—Lord Raglan made the appointment—regretting that Lord Raglan was not present to explain . Mr . Gladstone , a generous and high-minded man —not hopelessly , let us hope , lost in the frauds of

      the aristocratic system—was shocked at the attempt of Mr . Monsell to throw the responsibility on Lord Raglan ; the last man whom the House of Commons could bo allowed to think unkindly of just now . And he accordingly insisted that the general had only made the recommendation—the Government was responsible for the appointment . There , however , the subject dropped : — it was a palpable job . It was well known that a shameful Horse-Guard ' s intrigue was at the bottom of it , — but no one had courage to

      coerco the Government into explanation or apology : and Sir John Burgoyne stands before his apathetic countrymen , whom he has well served , a disgraced and degraded man . Still rooro shameful is the conduct of the House of Commons in the Jeremiah Smith job . That gentleman , sent to gaol for practices which twothirda of the members of the Houao of Commons countenance and connive at , has been liberated

      by an order from the Homo-office—on the ground that his health is bad . Wow , a lo . ttre do cachet is a bad thing , but a lettre de relaxation is anothor instrument of preciacly the same system , and it ifl difficult to reconcilo this act of Lord Palmer-Bton * s ( nccoBBarily influenced by the gentlemanly pressure from within ) with our British pretensions of superiority over the continental unfortunates who Buffer from u " secret police . " Yet , strangely

      enough , the House , not alarmed at Lord Palmerston ' s announeeiufcnfc , *' cheered" him ! Another job , palpable from tbe personal illustrations , has been consummated m the destruction of the old , and the © Ration of a new , Board of Health . Granted that Mr \ Chadwiefe "was an impracticable public servant ; but , if so , why , in dismissing him , allow such a uaagnificent pension ? Granted that the chief of tlte new Board should he a " responsible" (!) member of the House : but wliy shonsl&lie be a noble ? The House of Commons knew that

      Lord Seymour , who is so successful in his spite , intends to join the Coalition as Minister of Health , and the House knew that Lord Seymour intends to sacrifice the Dr . Southwood Smiths , the class of men who have done their duty at the Board in utter indifferen ce to the whims and cretinism of the succession of Seymours put over their heads by different G overnments : but the House of Commons voted assentingly the estimate for the new Board presented on Thursday night , and which estimate the Government admitted was of " the vaguest character . " We hope that the new Board will work better than the last : -we believe

      it will : but we cannot miss the opportunity of pointing out that the " popular clamour" against the Board of Health has resulted in the same way as the popular agitation for an efficient Minister of " War—viz ., in the governing classes consenting to provide an additional teat for a supernumerary lordly pigling . There is something like a job visible in the debates on the Russian Securities Bill . The House is sick of the bill ; the country is ashamed of it ; it is silly and offensive : but the House has not

      the vigour to offend the amour propre of Lord Palmerston , who has got into the scrape of pledging himself to the absurd measure by his reluctance to vex Lord Dudley Stuartr— the leader of that eccentric school of Liberals who believe that Lord Palmerston has a love of popular rights and a hatred of despotisms . It is a job when public time is wasted , and a nation ' s character trifled with , out of deference to these personal considerations . Special incidents in the discussions onthe bill ought to attract attention . In a quiet way ,

      as if he were saying nothing remarkable , Lord Palmerston meets Mr . T . Baring ' s opposition with this remark : " The hon . gentleman is the last man who should intervene in regard to such a bill , for the hon . gentleman is himself an agent of Russia , " If this were true , and Lord Palmerston clearly thought it was , ought he not long' ago to have moved the expulsion from the House of this Russian agent ? Mr . Baring was able to deny the charge ; but he offered his denial merely as if ho were answering a commonplace parliamentary

      sneer ! In fact , we are accustomed to charges of vileness against our public men—against none more than Lord Palmerston : and to suggest treachery and treason , —as the Russian Securities Bill does against Englishmen generally , —excites no surprise . Several gentlemen who opposed the bill on Wednesday , said that they feared Lord John and Lord Palmerston wore allowing the measure to pass because they felt a personal

      enmity to the Czar . That , again , caused no aur- < prise : and it was considered a sufficiently reasonable accusation to call from Lord John , an elaborate reply . Lord Jolm was heroic . "No , " ho said , " I don't feel personal enmity . As long as wo were at peace with the Cznr , I felt most friendly to him . But now that ho has behaved in such a way as to require us to go to war , why then , sir , — -then , indeed , I feel it my duty to—to sneak out . " That is our Htatcfsmon ' s notion of tnoir function in a war ;—and they do speak out .

      Untitled Article

      J > ABLIAMENT OF THE WEEK . ALIGHT IN SUPPLY . Mon » at nfgjbt vraja supply night in the Commons , and tho varied discussions , illustrating , in their res \ iltle 9 sness , the resignation of their proper functions by the people ' s representatives , are worth giving at some tesgth . " The vote was then agreed to / ' is ihe only distinct sentence in the report . On the vote of 20551 . for reinstating the chapel at Contantinople , Sir J , Waims&ey said that the ambassador's house in Constantinople bad cost 84 , GQC ? ., ancUie believed that it contained ample accommodation at present for those who were attached to the embassy . Mr . Wilson said that some six years ago the chapel belonging to tho embassy had been burned down , and it had not been since re-erected , partly , he must own , in consequence of the extravagant and lavish expenditure ou the embassy house . The inconvenience of the want of a chape ] , however , had become so great , that urgent representations ¦ were made on the subject .

      Mr . Williams wished to know what t he 300 ? . for superintendence meant ? Mr . Wilson said the 300 ? . included the expense of sending out an architect for the double purpose of superintending the erection of the chapel and the consular building . The vote was then agreed to . On the vote of 1400 « T for the building of a wall and other necessary buildings connected with the Protestant cetnetery at Madrid , Mr . Wise said he thought tho conditions on which the Spanish Government allowed the existence of this cemetery would lay the foundation of considerable future misunderstanding . He believed there were not more than twenty-live or thirty English residents altogether in Madrid , yet they were called on to pay 14 . G 01 . for a cemetery there , whereas in Paris , where there were great numbers of English , there was no cemetery . . ¦ - ¦

      Mr . Fellatt wished to know if the burial ground was to be consecrated by an English bishop , whether the chaplain would receive Dissenters in it , and whether he would receive the children . of Baptist parents who Lad not received infant baptism ? Air . " WiLSOJf said that from the spirited way in which Lord Howden represented Protestant and British interests , conditions of a more satisfactory kind had been obtained from the Spanish Government than those which had been referred to by the hon . gentleman . That would appear from the further correspondence on the subject which had not yet been laid before Parliament . The ground would be consecrated by a Protestant bishop , lmt all Protestants would have the free use of it . Mr . Milnes said the question of the burial ground involved something of a principle , and it was somewhat gained that the existence of Protestants . was recognised in Spain . — [ A principle—price 1400 ? . !*) The vote was then agreed to .

      On the vote of 2500 / . for repairing the royal monuments in Westminster Abbey , Mr . E-waut thought the Government should not lose the present opportunity of securing free ac « ess for the public to see the monuments which were repaired at their cost . Sir W . Moleswouth said the subject was under his consideration . The object of levying fees was to pity the persons who were employed in showing parties- the monuments in tho building . Mr . M . Milnks was afraid that his hon . friend ' ( Mr . Ewnrt ) would be disappointed if he thought that for the sum

      of 2500 / . all tho monuments would bo restored to their pristine state . Neither did he ( Mr . M . Milnes ) think it dcniral > le that they should bo restored to that state . IF tho Dean and Chapter did not provide places for public statues , it could not bo the interest or the duty of Parliament to spend the national money in tho preservation or restoration of the building . Ho did hope that tho Government would interfere in tho matte r , and that tho result would Lo , that this great scandal would be removed . As a churchman , lie felt that things of that kind did much to injure tho higher ordor of the clergy .

      Mr . Brady considered it a dispraco to tho country that the people were not allowed to visit monuments which had such a tendency toelcvulo the mind without tho payment <> t a fee . Sir W . MoLKswoivm wished to remind hon . members that tho greater part of tho Abbey—viz ; ., tho nave , tin : choir , and the transept—were already open to tho public without any charge ; and tho only ronaon why tho robt was not placed in tho same position wan that which ho hud stated , — namely , that it was nocessary to prevent them from beiiifr pilfered . Mi * . W . Williams thought that if the levying of money from visitors whs to bo tolerated , tho proceeds ought not to go into the pockets of tho dean and chapter , but to bo applied to tho malting of repairs or tho payment of peraoiiH to go round .

      Tho vote wns then agreed to , On tho proposal to grant 1000 Z . fox tho restoration of tho Bttttuo of King Ghurlos I . ut Charing-croas , Sir J . Sukllicy said ho should like , to know how all that money whh to bo expended . Sir W . Molkbwouth hnd to state , in reply to his hon . friond ' a quoution , that lust your , an application having boon made to him by tho Oryulul Palaeo Company to allow u cunt of tho Htatuo to bo m < u ) c , nnd that npphuntion having been acceded to , he had an opportunity of visiting tho » t « tuo , nnd observing certain dofoclu In it . In consequence of what ho mvw , he employed Mr . Hiohard Wostinacott to cxnniino tho Htatuo mid make u roport . 'Phut gontlomnn reported Unit it . wan in u very bad flt « to . Ho stated that tho Iioiho was fractured in the knooa— ( Lau fitter )—that tho bridle . h \ vord , and bit woro no more —( " Umr , " and laughter)—that , tho tail yviib alao defective , tho weather having pa » ctiu . Ud it . ( lioars of laughter . ) In Bliort , In ( Sir W . Mok-sivorlh ) ionnd that tho Htatuo could not bo completely rcotwrcd for lees than tho sum . now naked for 5 it wua evidently in « very

      Untitled Article

      722 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,

      Untitled Article

      THE COURT . This Court remains at Oaborne . Nothing scema fixed as to her Majest y ' s autumn movements . Prince Albert , it is stated by tho French papers , i » to meet Louie Napoleon at Boulogne , to bco tho grout cump , In the course of thin month .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 5, 1854, page 722, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2050/page/2/