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    and report , with full powers to call for persons and papers . How deep the interest of that blue-book ! Think of a roving eoruinissien de rege inguirendo , to examine into the mental , moral , and professional state of the royal class throughout Europe ; to call before it , not only Frederick "William and make him account for his conduct , —not only Ferdinand

    of INaples , Isabella of Spain , Nicholas of Russia , and all the great criminals or idiots that now sign away the liberties , property , and welfare of States , but the chosen companions of those idiots—^ the young gentlemen of Isabella ' s palace , the priests that hang about the Neapolitan zany , "tlie mystical statesmen who translate Frederick "William ' s

    maudlin into diplomatic language , the spies that are the accomplices of iN'icnola's , and would be willing to irurn king ' s evidence" Talk of " secret memoirs , " of exciting romances by Eugene Stie , of scandalous ( disclosures in G-ilbert-street , Denbigh-street , or INewmaii-streeVl i 3 uch . a -blue-book as this TJVOiald put all those exciting and infamous records to the -blush : would show that the

    extTenies of sb' ciety meet , and that the thrones riv ^ iihe sl umsiittheir ch aracteristics , ItwP tild force moderate statesmen , practical men who stand , upon facts and realities , to adtni ^ at least as a doubt , the question whether Europe is ! benefited ! b y having hereditary cretins ,. idiots ., and crimiiLals ^^ kept iipon thrones which are not reformatory prisons , btit stimulating schools of gigantic vice .

    We could not expect from sitth a coiriinission that the report would terjhinate in recommendations . Sufficient ^ if- it analysed and exposed the actual state of royal Europe . Therecommendations inight come from that knowledge . Practical men , who abound in England oi all other countrifeB , might hit upon some safer mode of appointing hereditary monarchs , since hereditary monarchs we imist have , even when they a ^ e elected in the Month 6 f December . The modes of

    inheiitance are different , and are made , as we haTe discovered lately , by universal suffrage —a , strange anomaly , but one that suggests to us the possibility of introducing changes , if not improvements . There is also ari Indian mode of inheritance—that of adopting a child . However , it is not for us to suggest . Wiser heads may , perhaps , discover the principles of improvement for appointing the royal officers of Europe , after they have satisfied themselves as to the actual state of that unhappy and misery-creating class .

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    There is no learned , man . bTrt will confess ho hath muoh . profited by rending controversies , his senses awalcened , and , his judgmont sharpened . If , then , at be profitable for him to read , why should it not , at least , botolerablefor his adversary co wjite . —Mix , ton .

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    THE WAR AND THE ENGLISH PEOPLE . By an Old JREjronniHn . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) Sir , —In however outspoken and upspoken , or , as prudent and calculating natures would call U , impracticable and rash langungc , 'the several orators at the great mooting at Newcastle-iUpon-Tyno tlolivored their sentiments touching tho war in the East , thoro can bo no douht that they declared tho fiontiments of nine-tenths of her Majesty ' s subjects Wo have a largo muster df varieties in our circlo of acquaintance . It includes some of till classes , from tho peer to tho peasant . It takes in men of all

    parties , Tones , Whigs , Liberals , Kadicals , Neutrals . Jiut from all thoso , if wo wore put upon our oatli , wo do not think that we could pick out a singlo individual who does not look suspiciously at tho manner in which this war with Kusein . ia conducted . Thoy may not nil coincide exaotly with tho ISowcaatle speakers . They may nee gentler lungu » tfe in expressing their opinions . They may draw linos between tho poseiblo and impossible . But nil arc ot ono heart and tnind Vvith regard to th < j mismnnngoment which has so far marked the 'wretched proceedings of Lord Aberdeen nnd his . colleagues in this mutter , Lot us see how things stand . Of tho iieoplo

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    Moscow and the country around that semideserted capital . There lies the pith of the Russian race ; there is to "be found the germ of v \ hat is vital in Russian civilisation ; thence , if at all , must come the healthful impetus which shall change semblance into reality , and weakness into power . The whole surface of "Russian society is a sham , thinly concealing the corruption and degradation engendered by the forcing system of Peter I . The heart of the Russian nation , let us hope , is sound , but it behoves us to do our best to demolish" the gross imposition which has so long presented itself to ' the world in its

    name . Inhere have always "been those who believed the power and progress of Russia to be a bugbear ; and they have rightly judged , 'but Only in part . Russian power , in Q-ermany , and Turkey , andT Persia , for instance , was not a bugbear , because it inspired -confidenee . There Russian power was , and . perliaps is , fealiy believed in with almost religious zeal . Serieei it nas . efiectu . ally arrested the ste-ps ot progress , on various occasions in a ebnspieuoiis ^ always in a secret manner . To all

    intents and purposesRussianpower did exist ; Russia , was loo ^ ei upon , and was really the grestt pdlieeinaii , constantly arresting revolution and political itti-pro ; Vement ; jind none the less sofeeeause she iaade kings and people believe in "her omnipotence . The question was * who should bell the cat ; jiitd the Ttfori hfis remained undone until taken up by tlie Maritime Powers . It has even yet to he proved that Russia is a bugbear . Nevertheless , gdnie symptoms of the Tartar peep through the peeled spot 3 on the skin of the Russian . In finance he has been found

    to !) ei deplorably weak ; unable to move into Hungary in 18 ^ 9 mthoul ; a loan ; unable to construct a railroad without a loan ; and unable to carry on this war not only without again making heavy demands upon the Jews , but without raising a forced loan from all classes of the happy subjects of Nicholas . The whole financial system is fictitious ; and the paper of the Government will , no doulbt , be depreciated in this as muck as it was in the previous war . There is nothing in the finances of Russia to be compared in soundness with the finances of England .

    But so many nations have failed in finance , from so many causes , that we need not lay too much stress upon that . What we may fairly trust to 'find perfect is the military system . That , of course , is the one real thing in a nation of 'barbarians . If they can do nothing else they can fortify and fight with the best . So it would appear . Yet it is not so . The Tartar comes through most plainly hei'e . It now seems ji settled fact that the dreaded granite batteries- —those seeming solid realities in Russia— -that the gloomy ,

    A SKINNED RUSSIAN—A TARTAR . The greatest [ Frenchman of the age made the truest speech about 'Russia -when lie originated the famous phrase , that if ' you skinned a Russian you would find a Tartar . In the sa-ine spirit Charles Vogel has described St . Petersburg as not the capital , but the'baywindow of the Russian Empire , whore the Romanoffs and tho Court go to breathe the air of 'European civilisation . The grand courtesy and gallant show of Russian , society is in like manner all histrionic ; it is put on and worn while tho actor struts before the

    loot-lights , ifcis thrown aside when he gets into the coulisse ; nnd . even while ho ia on the stage , if you could only see behind him , you would find that tho mask lmt hides what should be tho nobler features . At the back df what you see is what 3 > ou would shudder to look upon , and the scowl of the wild beast is covered by the simulated emilo of tho gentloman . Behind nil that is rich , strong-looking , and grand in appearance , ia poverty , weakness , cruelty—in short , eloao under the ratnifchecl hide of the Russian lies tho flesh , blood , bones , and passions of the aboriginal Tartar . Tho real h'enrt and soul of Russia is in

    Tbut terrible casemates , are like all the rest a show only of power . In the lato attack on jBomarsund sixteen guns reduced two towers , and compelled a third and fourth to surrender . Tho French and British batteries smashed tho granite faces of the forts , and crumbled away tho oiinbrasures ; and as the blocks foil out , tho rubble behind , uncemonted nnd loose , rolled after them in showers . Tho firm and solid appearance proved to 1 ) 0 only an appoaraneoa Russian tiido , which even 32-pound shot and shell could toar away , revealing the Tartar skin . Nor arc the soldiers of Russia

    bravery ; that no emperor can take away , except by surrendering him to the tender mercies of one of the most corrupt commissariats in the world . And as it is with the army , so it is with the navy—it bullied Turkey when she had no fleet , it fell with bloody effect upon the inferior Turkish force at Sinope ; but it remains under the batteries of Sebastopol , Cronstadt , and Helsingfors , when it ia challenged by an equal , nay , an inferior force . The ships , we are told , are built with green wood , and utterly unable to keep the rough sea .

    36 et we know that Russia will not yield without a struggle the prestige she has gained by the efforts of her ahle diplomacy , the building of casemates and fleets , the maintenance of an enormous , and well-drilled army , and the conquest of vast tracts of land . Besides the great strength » she ; draws from the lively sense of her ppwet which she has impressed upon many nations , Russia has two real sources of strength >~^ the idoinitofole bravery of ! her people , valid the unfaltering ; character

    01 > her ^ will . Her immeasurable-duplicity and fraud lias , of eouirse , served h ^ r for a time , but eoupled with her ambition it has brought her to the fieify ordeal ^ df the present war . It will be . good for the whole world if she foe driven back into her native territory ; if her ambitionand pretension deceive ' . % terrible ^ repulse .. ; . if her fungus-like prosperity be trampled to dust ; and her oppressions by force and influence be swept away . It will lie good for her and for us all if we strip off from her the

    unhealthy outer garment which she calls Russia , and reduce her again to the barb arism of Tartary , so that she may start afresh in honest guise . -Let her , as the head of the Slavonic race , have her due weight in the world ; but letndt that weight be increased by a reputation for power not deserved , and not only stained with the blood of the oppressed , but furthered by craft the most ibid ,

    and ambition all-devouring . It . is ( full time to test to the utmost all the pretensions , of Russia ; and as they aim at universal empire , the-sooner their folly is j perfectly shown the better for all parties . It is time to test tlie strength and honesty of Russia , and the sooner both are reduced tp their right proportions the better , alike for Europe and the itaperial boaster -who is a , Tartar in disguise .

    more substantial . Strip off tho military intogumonts , and lo , y « m bohold anything but tho fine , soldiorl y follow who stood ' boforo you unstrippod . Ho is altogether an inferior m-achino to what , on parado , he appoarod . At St . Petersburg ho is splendidly attired ; but soo him on tho distant frontier and ho is ragged , dirty , badly fod , dojoctod , miserable . One thing about him , however , is real—Ivis

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    [ IW TlltS DEPARTMENT , A 3 ATA OPINIONS , TIOWKVKlt BXTKHMB , AMI AI , LOlVi : u AN HXl-IUvSSION , XIIK UDITOIt WKOKBSAUILY HOLDS IIllt-Slit . V ItKal'ONSDU . li KOIt NONI ' -. I

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    850 'THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 9, 1854, page 850, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2055/page/10/