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Leader (1850-1860), 21st June 1856, Edition 1 of 2, Page 590, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      ^ Wh . prioQ . fAT seata at theirGomcH > Board ^^ nSiwMfl ed . up i&re&Bptem except on S ^ S !^^ S « SS 3 ir Then ^ y 4 ^ erafc »*< i tf& w W ppopter « by ayowaJs of ipn ^ w ^ *^ fte *© d , ; tfcoy a ^ ealed to W > laug © or formidable principles , 51 tkayr diluted ; all iOieirtp ^ offiasioiis by } cliBOTsrauog every pioposal « f pol # Saal » el \ anga . Add to this ,, that they » ewr gpswa » eai an organization * that ^ a * JbheirTtto ? d meeting the pubUe unequivocally

      evinced fta wa » t of interest or of confidence , and it is not difficult tounderstand how this ^ . ssoeiation , iEustpated for a moment by the « soMieH » ent , of th& Sevastopol outcry , went out , soon after , like a lamp in a vault . It proposed noising : complete , and ; it did nor thing welli It was forgotten until , a few days since * the . ItoEBiorcK : manifesto appeared , public cuijiosiiy has ; given it a little life , and the City meeting to-day may be , in appearance . , successful .

      But has Mr . Eobbuok provided in the ^ stored association new means and new Wiethpda ? Does he propose to eliminate £ he objectionable rules which made the body from the first unpopular ? No trace of such » change is yet ; discernible . Mr . IVto ^ iiEiE , yho failed—Ma * . Ta&yims , who failed—Mi ? . j CUss ^ cwH who faijedr—are again the leaders . of the organizationj only they have ; chosen that

      Mr . Rqbbttok shall lead , them . They mayblunder leas and ; move more rapidly under bis leadership - than ; before j but they ax © ; not the men to inspire the Liberal' party with eonfideneej , to impress the eountry ^ or to influence the House of Commons . Their organisation ) . moijepver ^ . appears . too formal , is exposed to- ridicule ,, resembles , the constitution of a debating society . Besides , it does not correct one evil of which the real

      Reformers throughout England complained . We kjiow accurately enough what were the feelings Tldt h * whichjthel < iberjal ; members of the House of Commons * and the principal members of Ihe-parfcyi outsider thatHoUse ^ regarded the Administrative IJejoran Association as at first conatitsited . They looked upon it as a bubble , partly patriotic , partly vulgar , the organ of ar passing excitement , wshich , at setting , out * lost its . , way , , provedt its weakness ^ and made itself ridiculous . No

      ardent , masculine : spirit was manifested . In , fac ,, politicians looked on the Association witjb . a kind of sympathetic contempts What are their , opinions now ? J ^ ecisejta the same . They , admire the enthuaiaemiof Mr . EoEBUOK , who lias promulgated bis declaration of policy , with almost juvenile oeteatfltioii ^ wji o talks largely about a part y in , the < I £ | OUBe of Qowwnons ;¦ who assigns , to " 8 | Sf sot s * l ^ aiiW ^ yajiyKaajand ^ AseJOTtheir official placea . with the pomp of a Eirst hopes convert ! the Band

      Minj ^ tmvvand ^ to , of Qifcf / Beibjvners ^ to a machinery for altering and ) improving the entire governmental : aystem < in , JESngland . If wie understood , how it w a * pp »« ble ? to reanimate the Association as i ^ actuals basis , and i with its- actual prinoiplea * , ^ -qhculd wish all' conceivable success to Mr ^ BoKBpaK , But will the gre at body of aubsoitib ^ aftoontinue their support for-an-Qther , yew ? v Ify we : W 0 not mistaken , some bay * , already- withdrawn . ; others- propose to

      TW&djmw ; , and . it » i » not likely that many * iw * top ; feiwftrd > to supply the vacancies . It ' ••• MWiJfWbft * pfletty , general opinion , that the A *« p < ii * twM ^ ift , nofc only au usele «* i deception , w * t » a BOIWtive . # T 841 » , Its . weakness , engenders ^ athy ^ r % * djjB ^» Hrftge » the union , of liberal xnen ¦ jfar poli&o&L HufpoeeA , , It seems t to- inr « U < W » , t © that puWio ! ^ gittttipn i » an , obsolete KBtnodyu ^ hat union'iftfftoLlpngejpBtrBugthiand ? li ^ fcpoiitioaltrefojfm'ianotjtEe truo . ohjeet of itfwmfpn * , ¦ . , . . ••• '< ¦ -. .. . ; : j , ' ii Where ^ is . the r Knanpial Reform Assooifti

      rtaan * which- began- its career with tracts , leotuces , cortresponding secretaries ^ and statistics ? Extinqt ? Bjo ; worse than . extinct ; because-it oeoupies . the ground * and concentrates in its own . tosjnd obscurity all that is political in many nunds . So -with the Administrative IteformeiS . Capable , in numerous instances , of exhibitinga , public spirit in

      only one form , they aoe content with subscribing to the funds of the Association * attending : its general meetings , and supposing themselves influential . WhereiiB , theAssooir ation being ; destitute of iatell 0 ct and energy , their good will » and whatever sacrifices they make , are thrown away .. Better have no IJiberaV organization at all than an organizar tion that is ineffective .

      These observations applyj of courBe , to the past career of the : Gity Beformers . While Mr . Mobi + ey was chairman , their case grew more hopeless from day to day . There was an intention to agitate at the next general meeting ini favour of new men and of a new system > What we complain of is , that .. Mr .. JJoebxtok ' s programme does not imply , necessarily , a . new system * , while it commits-the Association ^ to a . large extent , to the guidance of tjie very individuals whose political ! incar

      pacity has been so indubitably proved * Ferhaps he could not ,, as a , matter of personal feelings assign to his discarded predecessor the position of a . mere subscriber or committee-man ; but in whose power did it lie to appoint the ^ Finance , Statistical , and Corresponding Secretaries ? Were they named by the Council ; or by . the General Committee ? Ar , e the elections of » members of the Council and of the Committee to he regulated by new rules ? Is 501 . to confer on the subscriber

      the . right to a seat at the Council ) , or are the members to be chosen-for their fitness ? This may be treated * as a point of detail ^ but it involves the very principle for which Mr . Roebttck and the reformers contend . It ; is a scandal that the Administrative Reforn Assot ciation shouldsell its i honours . The fate of the Association , however , is not purely attributable to the ignorance or weakness of its : members , but to the general apathy of the nation , which has surrendered political science aa the privilege of a class . beenearnest

      Had the public at large , or vigorous , the Association . ; could not have stultifieditself ,, as it did in the second : month of its existence . But the result of every politioal union has been uniform during the last ten years . The public has 1 supplied it with the means ' , of life * andi has left it alone to dege * neratse into a , private committeej When this indifference has . ceased to . congeal the blood of the nation ,, we may hay © realrefo wn : but ¦ , until then , Liberals like Mr . Boebucki may pant at the head of exhausted associations ^ and , try to chafe them , into energy .

      Untitled Article

      MOB ^} , DA ] IK HINTS . To increase the political mystification amid which . we live , _ a . semi-official journal has pubv liehed : some peculiar * views of Itoliani affairs . Itis a / faUaoy ^ . however , to suppoaoi that the journal ini question , represents , im every m » - stance , the opinions or the inteniaonauof Lord PAiiM » BSroN . Its mo » fc positive atatements with reference , toithe American . dispute were entirely , groundlesfi . It averred * iAinb the

      dismissal of Mr . GJaAMZPSON would , be followed , instantly ^ the di » mia » ftlof Mr . DAxiiAS . That at ; once disproves its official authenticity . It indicate ^ probably , the feelings and dosireaof fk Cabinet , or partof a . Cabibet , but . no t' the 3 Sngliah * though the intimate relation' thatHnow . exifita between . the Brenah Mmha&ay and the British Foreign-offioe may imply Bordc PAiiMBBSTiOw ' s . asaent . to the infamouB libel wttioh , lost / weeky aafconiehed and diaguatodi every t friend of Italy .

      The writer doolared : that the dissatisfacfeion and restlessness aft . present " visible in Italy were kept up . solely by a class of petty half ruined meronante , penniless advocates , greedy clerks * beggarsj and . convicted attorneys , or attorneys deserving to be convicted . The evil , of thifi condition . ! of affairs being manifest , some immediater&medy is essential . "What remedy ? The strong hand , of Austria , to which is naturally confided the high mission of saving and regenerating Italy .

      That , is the shameful statement , stamped with semi-official authority . Of course it is copied with malevolent accuracy , from the political journals in the pay of the Austrian Government , the organs of systematic falsification , which are nowhere contradicted ^ except by the discreet and cautious Liberal press of Sardinia . But is it necessary that any English politician should be reminded of the history of the Italian States during the present century ? Who were the men that defended the Neapolitan Republic in 1789 , that fought in the Italian revolutions of 1820 ,

      1821 , 1831 , 1837 , 1841 , 1845 , 1848 , 1849 ? Of whom are the Italians proud , if not of their compatriots who have been destroyed by the axe , or by military executions , or by the wasting misery of the prisons ? "Who are they who now crowd the galleys , or live in exile , deprived of their estates ? The English Government itself has repeatedly avowed its sympathy with the Liberal party in Italy—the party that keeps up discontent , that agitates the nation , against its foreign rulers . But it circulated

      suffers this sort of calumny to-be m its name . Its recognized organ does not contradict the scandalous assertion . Not a word is said in Parliament : and , in Austria , the result is likely to be , that the article will be translated and published as an exposition of IJord Pai-mbiiston ' s views . In Lombardy , and the other States under Austrian influence , where no discussion is allowed , it may be conceived what will be the effect of such a declaration under the implied sanction of the

      British Government . The more intelligent of , the Italian Liberals never hoped ; ife i » true , for the active intervention of England in their favour . They know that it has been Lord Fai . meb , ston ' s invariable policy to ooquefe with foreign Liberalism , to deceive and to desert it . But , after what passed imthe Erenoh ; Conferences , after the assurances given to Sardinia , the approval bestowed on Count Cavour ' s Meand several distinct declarations

      morial , against the prolonged occupation of the peninsula by Austrian and Erench armies , it is somewhat startling to hear this miserable palinode repudiating all _ sympathy with the Liberal movement ; and ascribing it to the disaffection of the lowest and least P « bhcspirited . classes . What does it mean ? Does it indicate some failure of policy , some new necessity of deferring to tho Austrian Government , some sinister concert established between the Cabinets of London , Pans , and

      ( "Viiennai ? . i * . The insultingfaleification applies not only to the . Iiombardj Venetian , Neapolitan , Tuscan SandiBoman Liberals ; but to the statesmen ol Sardinia ; not . only to Bbofi-bbio , Vaibbio , « nd the other distinguished leadens ot t&o Left , but to Count Oavocb -himself , who is avowedly as dieoontented as Mazzini , thoupj his . dissatisfaction , assumes-a modified oihoiai

      form . He , therefore , is aspersed by M . »» Pjmaia » x ' a organ , together with tho wJipio body of politicians who believe that Au 8 tri « n military despotism , is an . evil , and that if w lawful to agitate against it . Lord Palmb » - sxoNihas' more , tban once declared thab " domination of Auetria in Italy was a wiatortune ^ nofc . to the Italians only , but to horaei And now we hear that it is her high mwsio «

      Untitled Article

      M 0 f B [ B i , VtMM : . iiBFAiri& ; No . as ^ ^ eubba ^

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), June 21, 1856, page 590, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2146/page/14/