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    Untitled Article

    No . 413 , February 20 , 1858 . 1 THE LEADER , 181

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    would have been perfectly fair , had the forms of the House permitted it , to have replied by recapitulating the history of the December days , and for this ' personal attack' the Premier would have been distinctly responsible . A key to the whole discussion is supplied by this incident . The claim of the Empire in Trance and of the Cabinet in England is ,, to utter what they please , and to remain unrefuted . So far as Iiord Pai / meeston is concerned , the French Emperor must be abundantly satisfied . There has been no reply to M .

    Waxewski ' s despatch ; but the rough draft of a Conspiracy Bill . "When members of the House of Commons , in the exercise of their undoubted right , remark upon the transactions between the two Governments , the Premier rises and solemnly adjures Parliament not to endanger the alliance . "We , at least , can speak plainly and calmly on this subject . We have no enthusiasm to recant , no panegyrics or

    invectives to recal . Every line we have written since the partnership with France was established , has been consistent with one principle , and with one view of the relations that should subsist between Great Britain and the French Emperor . France and Great Britain are allies ; we value and respect the alliance ; but it is one that can only endure upon certain conditions , and upon a national basis . The two countries have for centuries

    competed in the race of wealth , power , and grandeur . They imagine themselves equal . That is to say , France invariably assigns to Great Britain , and Great Britain to France , the rank of second among nations , wliiqh is merely an admission of mutual equality ; and we most sincerely believe that , in order to preserve this balance , which is the true basis of the alliance , the strength and dignity of England must be uncompromisingly asserted . We have nothing to gain b y unworthy concession ; we have but to sacrifice the respect of

    France in order to lose her co-operation . There is no such principle as that of friendship in diplomacy . We said , long ago , that Louts Napoleon had the sense , perhaps the magnanimity , to grasp the hand of England , but let us say now that he who grasps your hand knows better than others when it trembles * Yet , that concord which arose with the necessities of usurpation , may become national , and precious to mankind . To the name of France has been dedicated by far the greater

    part of that generous good-will which has been ostensibly rendered to the person of the French Emperor . The spirit of Waterloo has departed , from England at least . Even a Bonapaete may now forgive that victory . He wears the garter of Wei ^ ington ; he has paid the legacies of St . Helena . Therefore no bitterness is justifiable on either Bide . As public writers , we would rather throw away the pen for ever than utter a word of offence to the French nation . And

    we protest against . Lord Pai-mjsrston s insinuation Ijhat Louis Napoleon ' s Government has been gratuitously attacked . It was the Emperor who began the controversy . Aimed at by Italians , he denounced the English ; he gave official circulation to praetorian insolence ; he dictated a round impeachment' to the English Cabinet , Parliament , and nation ; an apology which was extorted from him by honourable expostula-. tipna-hae ^ npM >^^ is he , therefore , who raises a painful question , and renders recriminations unavoidable . Lord

    PaijMjbrston excuses , easil y enough , the violence of the French colonels , adopted solemnly by the French Government , but he blames Parliamentary observations , which , bo far from being violent , are not even hostile , and appeals to English public

    opinion in defence ' of the French alliance . He might justly be told that to permit London to be overrun by imperial snies , to legislate under a fire of French legionaries , to be humble in the presence of arrogance and complimentary in reply to threats , is to sacrifice the first and last condition of the bond contracted between the two empires . We rest , as a nation , upon our power ; and our power is represented by the public conduct of our

    Ministers . Three years since , we put into the mouth of Lottis Napoieon the words of his uncle , Tout m ' est sownis , et tout me manyue , which may be interpreted , "I have eight millions of votes , and no supporters . " There has been no change since Louis Napoleon stood where Kossttth stood before him , to receive the adulations " of the stall-fed Corporation of London . The intelligent classes throughout France are the members of one vast

    conspiracy , and , in addition to this , the conspiracies of other nations explode in Paris . Is this our fault ? It brings upon us threats , insults , maledictions ; it fills our streets with spies ; it wrings a capitulation from our Government , and we are asked to apologize . For what ? For having been outraged . There was once a solicitor with a leaden face who was employed to stare Eeskine out of countenance ; Lord Palmerston , with another sort of grimace , puts Parliament o ' ut of

    conceit with itself . Now , it must be repeated , the meek attitude simulated in Downingstreet never gained for us a great ally . We need not be dictatorial ; we have a right to be proud , and , unless we would abandon our position , we must be independent . If we cannot establish with the French Emperor an ^ alliance of sympathy , we can accept from him an alliance of policy , not incompatible with , but preliminary to , that alliance of the future , which shall unite in common interests two nations of reasoning men .

    We recur without apology to the opinions long since expressed in this journal . The policy adopted in support of the alliance has been false from the beginning . It was so when , in 1855 , we wrote , "We have idolized the usurper and not obtained the respect of the army , the sole support of that Government . " It is so when the French colonels , at a safe distance , clamour for the invasion of England . Without representing the passions of any defeated party , without oscillating from slander to flattery , without at one time , accepting a government of repression , darkto that

    ness , and silence , as preferable of a great constitutional party , and at another vilifying at with undiscriminating animosity , we have been faithful to a policy of conciliation , not to the Emperor , but to the nation of France , and we repeat once more that " we avow the responsibility of every printed word ; but , if there be justice in history , it will never be said that the British press has broken faith with the French people by pointing out the infatuation and the recklessness of the Empire . We have taken a decided part , hut it has not been the part of faction or of levity . "

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    NOBLE PRESSURE FROM WITHOUT . Thbee was a noble Lord who , in 18 , 31 , offered to arm hia tenantry in orde r to beat down the cry for a Beform Bill . That hereitey _ Cms . erx ^ against the ' pressure from without . He did not appear to understand that buckling on the swords of the yeomanry to stifle the public opinion of the towns would have been ' pressing' with a vengeance . Lords and gentlemen , however , have abandoned that mode of polemics . The fashion ia now to publish books containing statements of

    deliberate opinions . Thus , Lord Gbf-v , whose father was said to stand at the door of the Upper House , as though his face had bee ^ . the face of an angel , ' has produced a volume , * of which it may be said that politicians should read it , since it is an exposition oi party opinion ; but the essay is condemned by its preface . We have been reminded that Earl Gbey forgets the essential distinction between an organism and a mechanism , and that he treats the constitution of Great

    Britain as a watch to be taken to pieces , cleaned , oiled , repaired , laid out to dry in the sun , and . repaired according to an artificer ' s rule . This , we think , is the vitiating principle of the book ; it proposes to treat the constitution as an old house requiring a new staircase , and he insists that a committee ol surveyors should sit to inspect the dilapidations " of the structure and send in an estimate for repairs . le

    We have not discovered a singpractical suggestion in Earl Gbey ' s essay . It is an attempt to anticipate Parliamentary discussion . The author praises the rotten-borough system , and proposes that a certain number of Privy Councillors ( Radicals included ) should assemble to debate the necessities of Parliamentary Beform . But Lord Gbey is mistaken on one point . He thinks the country will accept a new Beform Bill as a favour

    from the governing classes . He thinks that whatever improvements a set of political patentees determine to propose may be screwed on without resistance to the machinery of the constitution . He " thinks that the change to come will be Welcomed ' from above to b , elow ' by a grateful and acquiescent people . He is grossly in error . The question is not one for the peerage to decide . It depends upon the verdict of public opinion .

    That public opinion is clearly in favour of Reform upon a large and liberal scale . The proposals of the United City Reformers have met with general acceptance throughout the country . It is acknowledged that the Tory programme , involving a readjustment of the electoral system in favour , of the landed in < - terest , is simply ridiculous ; while Liberal politicians seem to be agreed that the shout for manhood suffrage , as the only possible concession , is the merest clamour . With this clamour , however , the working classes , as a body , are not identified . That was sufficiently proved by the conference held at St . Martin ' s Hall . Neither Lord Gbe y nor

    the champion of manhood suffrage has hit the real tone of p ublic opinion , which , powerful in its moderation , asks for that which may be conceded without difficulty or danger .

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    BANKRUPTCY REFORM . We shall now finish our discussion of this subject for the present , by giving a resume of the different defects that we have touched upon from time to time , and which we consider it will be necessary for any bill to remedy that professes to be an effective and comprehensive measure of bankruptcy reform . The primary duty that such an Act of Parliament has to perform , is to secure us the

    administration of the bankrupt law with cheapness , simplicity , and despatch . The framers of such an act , and the men whose duty it is to discuss its merits and demerits in committee , are unfortunately , in most cases , utterly ignorant of the practical def ^ ils ^ ot * th ©~ courtr ~ -It-i 8-forthis-reason » thab we feel compe lled to dwell upon the glaring defects of the present rotten and ineffective system to an extent that may seem wearisome to persons not directly interested

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    • Parliamentary Government Considered with Reference to a Keform of Parliament . By Earl Groy . Bontley .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 20, 1858, page 181, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2231/page/13/