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Leader (1850-1860), 24th April 1858, Edition 1 of 2, Page 399, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      construed this note of inquiry into a positive statement to the Sardinian Government that our Government intended to oppose the proceedings of Naples in the case of the Cagliari ; and by the act of pur servant we thus incited Sardinia to take the advanced position which she did . Lord Malmesbury is no doubt quite in the right -when he points out Mr . Erskine ' s error , and disclaims the statement ascribed to Lord Clarendon . But does this explanation exonerate this country ? If Sardinia has been induced to take a more forward position than , she would have done by the representations of our public servant , are we inflicted

      not bound to repair our injury as upon her ? Undoubtedly ! But even , independently of that consideration there is the higher ground , that a great service can be rendered to freedom and to civilization by England , and that therefore ye are bound by every obligation which power , intelligence , self-respect , and sympathy for our kiud can enforce , to stand by Sardinia in the struggle . _ The question is becoming practical . Sardinia has not faltered in her own path . Alittlc more obstinacy on the part of Naples must compel Sardinia to take some step which , will lead to hostilities . Down to this point it is understood that the advice of

      Austria to the Ministers of King Ferdinand has been moderate and judicious ; but a general disturbance in Italy will necessarily bring risks upon Austrian influence , if not upon Austrian possessions ; and troops are accumulating at Piacenza on the Sardinian frontier . We may impute any motive to the Government at Vienna , but we will abstain , and regard only what are become apparent necessities . A general outburst in Italy , especially if it be stimulated by the extreme Republican party , and left to work itself out by the Western Powers , might be diverted from the legitimate course of this quarrel into an attack upon Austria . The successors of Radetzky are not unlikely to anticipate any aggresheld

      sive movements by taking the initiative m the ; and they might calculate that the most economical strategy would lie in crushing Piedmont . It is , indeed , not probable that ltussia would view with satisfaction the annihilat ion of so great a counterpoise as Piedmont to the power of Austria in the East , and in Germany ; even Prussia could scarcely be indifferent on that point ; but Prance lias half declared herself . It is Austria which has been chiefly instrumental in diminishing the strength of the French and English alliance ; and there is no doubt that in the Tuileries that offence is one of the reasons for the strong grudge against Austria . After the affair of January the llth , France addressed demands to various countries for the reconsideration

      of the penal law , with a view to the restraint ot conspiracies . The Cavour Government has been accused of too humbly bowing to this request , but the Prime Minister has himself explained with what independent language he has answered . At the same time , however , lie did avow that , whether as Emperor or as President of the Republic , Louis Napoleon lias always shown himself well disposed towards Piedmont . . What , then , is the position of Sardinia at the present moment ? She is engaged in a quarrel with a Government in Italy possessing larger territory and apparently greater resources . 'Iho Empire which broods over Italy is raising its forces to _

      iuterpose . England contents herself with disclaiming any pledges in the affuiv . And it is Fiance alone that shows any signs of answering to the summons when sho is culled to sustain au ally against injustice . Now , is this position of the- English Government consistent with the opinions of the English people P Are we devoid of sympathy with Sardinia ? Are we blind to the practical interests which aro involved in the quarrel ? It is true that some of our popular politicians liavo counselled " non-intorference , " and that official gent lomcu take up thaicry when it suits their purpose ; but , if wo stand back , will the quarrel in Italy bo left to the doctrine of uon-intorferenco ? If it were so , if all foreign powers stood aloof , who oan doubt the result-P But it will not- be . On the contrary ,

      already wo sec a combination of great armies to crush u single state ; nnd it is to neutralize thai , —conapirucy _ ofJi « UTOl S 2 ^ > rt " , ili " , ? ambitions of another imperial courfT ^ tlmtrtLnglxmo is called upon to enter into the litigation . Such is the bulunao of power in Europe , Unit Iho honest and straightforward declaration by England that sho rcinombors lior obligations and ia prepared to stand by bur ally and justice , would aullico to secure tlie oquitablo treatment of Iho combatants , and a happy result for iho conflict . Surely Englishmen arc not so degenerate from their

      forefathers as to shrink either from the responsibilities of such an enterprise , or from calling their Government to its duty . Indeed , no statesman could make himself more popular than he who should stand forth at the present moment , and address to Sardinia the language of courageous friendship ia the name of the English people .

      Untitled Article

      PALMERSTON AND RUSSELL . " Codmn's the friend , not Short . " Palmerston is the leader , not Russell . The " pure Whig * ' papers keep up this cry with a pertinacity rather suspicious . Truly , when people remember Park and Watt in Naples gaols , and the " masterly inactivity" of the late Premier in re Reform , they are apt to forget the rather odd fact that Lord Palmerston was ouce the leader of the Liberal party . The Russelites , on the other hand , are making a vigorous effo rt to persuade Palmerston that he has abdicated , and that there is a short Tory interregnum , preparatory to a restoration of the natural leader of the party . Mr . Disraeli waits with pa tience until his enemies are agreed upon his death ; and he may outwit the rival chiefs . " The hunter who sold the skin of the bear was devoured

      by the bear . " In this case we have two hunters , but one protecting the bear because the sale of the skin has not yet been settled . Loud are the laments over the " disorganization " of the Liberal party . It is disorganize d , ay , almost as dissolved as the Anti-Corn law League . But if the Liberal party has lost office , have Liberal principles lost power ? We find a Government in office doing the work of the Liberal party . Disorganized as the party maybe , LordDerby andMr . Disraeli bow down to it and obey its wishes . The Liberal party wished Lord Palmerston to do its work , but Lord Palmerston with patrician insolence declined . And

      not alone did he violate the great principles of Liberalism by his miserable foreign policy , cut he outraged the _ minor instincts of the party by the nepotism of his patronage . In strong contrast to his defiance of the party we have a Tory Cabinet acting as the ministers of a Liberal policy . They stand by Watt and Park , and demand compensation ; they drop the Conspiracy Bill ; they send their leader of the House , and the son of the Premier , and their three " whips" to vote the

      abolition of church rates ; they frame a Radical India Bill , and Avithdraw it before the opinions of the press , and they are ready "to receive any suggestions" as to how the Government of the country is to be carried on . Old party men stand aghast , at this spectacle , and talk of the Ministry as " degraded . " That is not our business . If a set of gentlemen , once called Conservatives , choose to fetch and carry for the Liberal party , we accept their services , simply because our natural Ministers struck work .

      The time may come , perhaps next year , when a Liberal party must be organized to carry out in good faith and with thorough effect some great Liberal measure , too broad and weighty for that narrow Derby gauge on which the business of the nation now runs . When that time comes , the " natural leader" will arise . We do not advocate any forgctfulness of " past services ; " independently of all sentiment , past services arc a kind of promise of future good work . But the work of a nation is too momentous mid too mighty to be given away to " past service" men . Unless the present " consular men " of the Liberal pnrfy show consular capacity for the present and future work of Government , we cannot a ( lord to give them salary and place—retirement

      and pension are their due . For tlio immediate present , wo see no cause for any uneasiness amongst , the Liberal party . They have lost , it is true , p atronage and place for the time ; it is a chastening for having surrendered themselves , voto ana thought , to Lord Palmerston for a season . As to the old and young Whigs who discuss with pitiful gravity which of the cx-Tcadors shall bo the new chief , wo must ask them , Why not leave tho pnTtyto ^ cleoidcP- " —In 8 tead-of- 'C 0 nvouinffT-nii « istcria ] gatherings at Lnnsdovvne House , why does not Lord Palmerston cull a meeting of the Liberal pnrty P When Lord John went out of odico in 1852 he adopted that natural course , and ho was compelled to listen to some homo truths from the advanced Liberals , Ts Lord Palmerston afraid that I ho same home-brewed draught might bo too bitter for his lips P

      Untitled Article

      MANCHESTER AND BORNEO . Silt James Buookjs has proposed tho definite settlement of Sarawak under a British protectorate . He lmiTon ' eToll'tliis-country ~ a ^ territoriaU position ^ COm ^_^ manding the great maritime highway to China , tho inl . eniaFcoinmfircc of a vast island , and the whole of the Indian Archipelago trade , with ample supplies of coal , and every fucilit-y for tho shelter and anonorago of shipping , besides ' being the national point of junction for tho electric telegraph between Hong-Kong and Singapore . In exchange for the Imporial

      Untitled Article

      No . 422 , Apbxl 24 , 1858 . ] THE LEADEE . 399

      Untitled Article

      THANK HEAVEN WE HAVE A HOUSE OF LORDS ! Lives there a democrat so hard of heart as to dispute the useful as well as the ornamental functions of a House of Lords in our great constitutional machinery ? Lord Derby , it is true , laments that the bill for the abolition of church rates should add one more to the list of bills that have passed the Commons only to be thrown out by the Lords ; but when we remember that on that question at least Lord Derby represents the majority of the Lords , and Lord Stanley the majority in the Commons , we are disposed to define our present paternal Government as a Tory father tempered by a Radical son . On Wednesday evening , Lord Redesdale moved , " that the House will not read any bill a second time after Tuesday , the 27 th of July , except bills of aid or supply ; " the whole House meanwhile being so severely occupied , that its sittings on aa average extend from five p . m . to six p . m ., just enough to give our hereditary legislators an appetite for dinner . But the House of Lords can be in earnest a la printaniere . On the same evening , the Marquis of Westmeath rose to present a petition from four hundred of the denizens of Belgravia against street organs , and

      supported the petition in a strain of uncommon eloquence . May we not exclaim , Thank Heaven we have a House of Lords ! Lord Malmesbury throws Sardinia into the arms of France , and Lord Westmeath threatens a pack of poor homeless Savoyards with all the terrors of an Act of Parliament . The noble marquis has seldom , we fancy , had charge of a public question so well adapted to the display of his powers . For really , to men who live by their brains a barrel-organ is a serious nuisance , and no doubt the noble Marquis sympathizes with his fellow sufferers . Poor literary man , on the third or fourth story in a quiet street , and poor gouty peer , on the ground floor in a lofty and bthe

      spacious square , are equally persecuted y remorseless Savoyard , -who is incessantly breaking out in a fresh place . Certainly ; we have no disposition to deny the nuisance to thinking men in working hours ' . But if an Act of Parliament is to put a stop upon these barrel-organs ( a stop , we trust , not introducing a new tune ) , may we not interpose a saving clause against their total and absolute extinction ? Supposing that every organ were silent , and every Savoyard suppressed to-morrow , would this metropolis , already not extravagantly gay , be much the better or the happier for the change ? Remember that to large numbers of people these organs are the only form of music

      accessible ; they are the Italian Opera , the Philharmonic , the Vocal Union , the Chamber Concert of the poor . Surely they may sometimes soothe the savage breast ; if they do not make a Pluto relent , or reclaim aEurydice from beyond the Styx , if every Savoyard is not an Amphion ; still in the quiet evening air , after the toil and turmoil , the fret and fever of tho day , some melody of Donizetti or Verdi , or some fond old English tune , may shed we know not what vague and unacknowledged sentiment of peace , and hopefulness , and tranquillity uponmany a worn , and seared , and sullen breast . May not the sound of some old forgotten tune reclaim for a moment a brutal husband , and make him beat

      time to the memory of his childhood instead of to the wife of his manhood P Any release , however transient , from the dull , dreary , cheerless , ugly round of thrall and care , is like the visit of a good angel , a glimpso of something happior and purer—a glimpso of an ideal world . Would it be possible for police regulations to limit tho performances of street organs to certain hours , say from six to ten of an evening P Perhaps not ; but it is ns well that wo should feel that even the barrel-organ quostion leaves something to bo said on both sides . We respectfully commend our hesitations to tho senatorial and hereditary wisdom of the noble Orgau of Pimlico and Belgravia .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), April 24, 1858, page 399, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2240/page/15/