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    THE SECOND ACT OF THE MINISTERIAL PLAY.

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    Untitled Article

    AFTER a brief interval Parliament is' a , bout to re-assemble . When the curtain fell at the close of the first act of the session , the principal characters were left in a somewhat doubtful position . The varied ' strength of the company had hardly been tested ; and the majority ' of those who had previously filled distinguished parts ; had remained almost mute . The two most prominent performers had indeed won applause rather for their manner of giving what they had to give , perhaps ^ than for the sake of the thing given . Mr . Gladstone never stood so high as the great rhetoricianOf the day ; " his superiority as a logical

    vocalist never was so universally acknowledged ; his rivals never seemed before so far distanced / and the intoxication of success , when it now and then bet rayed itself , was never deemed so pardonable . ' But the plaudits had hardly ceased when doubts arose whether the whole performance was not , in a certain point of -view , a splendid mistake . Going oft" at score , as he had done , and exhausting prematurely every resource and expedient conceivable , what could remain for him throughout the second and third acts ? The richest jewels of the Exchequer having been lavishly pawned to seciire the friendship of France , what was left to play with , should the first sacrifice prove to have been made m vain ? Ominous sounds to this effect had been

    indistinctly heard while yet the chorus of -Entente Cordiale Avas still ringing in our ears ; and men whispered moodily to one another as . the wizard of the scene was still gracefully bowing his acknowledgments , — - " Can we have paid the price and missed the consideration after all . ?" The position of Lord John RrssKLL was not . very dissimilar . As foreign minister he had from the outset taken a high and ambitious tone . Regardless of Austrian feeling , but confident , of being able to exercise a potential influence over the councils of France , his advice to the Italians often" outran , indeed , the views of the Tuilerics ; but he always counted upon being able to restrain , by friendly representations , the impatient egotism of " our great aljy . '" ' * Had he been duped throughout about Savov ? or was there any truth in the retorts , not indistinctly or

    inaudibly ' uttered by M . de Pehstgnv in London and M . de TiiouvEXEL in Paris , that ample notice of the Imperial intentions had really been givfin from the first , but that the English Government could not or would ' . 'not hear ? Natoi / eon III , has certainly some right to say that had England hot thwarted him respecting the annexation of Tuscany , he might and would have been content to forego ' ¦ ' the French slopes of the Alps ; " but that , inasmuch as the autumn was spent by our Governmentriii preventing , by every means short of open interference , the territorial severance of the Grand Duchy from the rest of the Italic kingdom , we could not be surprised at his wishing to ' compensate himself for his diplomatic defeat by enforcing the terms of

    the celebrated Pacte defumllle of January , 1 S 59 ; and that Lord Cowl-eY must be a stupider man than even he is believed to be if he did not . understand throughout that -the two annexations ; namely , that of Tuscany and of Savoy , were throughout regarded as CQimtei-Tweights both at Turin and Paris . The conduct of M . C a vox ? it in this business is indeed somewhat '• 'difficult to undqrstand . That he was a party to the original bargain admits of no dispute ; it is even allowed that the . transfer now completed was negotiated by him , together with the marriage of the Princess Clotimlde , during his visit to the Emperor' at Plonibiore , in Septembor , 1 S 58 . But as the latter event was kept secret until the five of its celebration , so the former was steadily

    denied with more or less emphasis by the Minister of Victor Emmanuisl up to . the very last hour . The -well-known declaration put into the mouth of the Ktxg only six weeks Jigo , that lie would neither sell nor give away his hereditary dominions beyond * he Alps , is now attributed to ' the counsels of England . A few telegraphic Hashes of indignation from Paris rapidly succeeded in shaking this chivalrous resolve , if resolve it ever were . The Palm Huston Cabinet was palled upon to say plainly whether it avus prepared to back that of Turin in resisting the exactions of France , and the nnswer heing in the negative nothing remained but . submission . When the thing was to bo . done , it might us

    well be done promptly'and gracefully ; and so M . ( Javouk , having had the aid of England ' s moral influence to secure the consolidation-or a great and populous kingdom for his sovereign , in spite of the will of France , -naturally thought that the next best thing ho could do . was to retain tho friendship of that dangerously powerful friend , by lotlijig him rcsiuno quietly tlio Alpine frontier of 1708 . Lord John Husgjsix may fairly claim credit for having aided niniorially in the establishment , of the now Italic kingdom ; and he has adroitly contrived to wive himself and his colleagues from national blamo in the matter of Savoy . But when lie ventured to threaten , however vaguely , tlio ( renewal of rajmt'ocJufinonln with tho despotic powers of the

    Continent , by way of holding Imperial ambition in . check , he committed himself in words , at least , to a course which he must feel it would be impossible for him actually to take . The Courts of St . Petersburg and Vienna understand this well , though they would willingly draw the English Ministry on to palterings and palaver- , ings against France , with the arriere pensee , that whenever our Government arrived at the point of harking- back and recalcitrating , they would be in an advantageous position to make advantageous terms for themselves with the " common enemy . " Such is the bottomless quagmire of bad policy and bad faith on the verge of which Lord John has been making his personal reputation prance and caricole . We '¦ v enture to prognosticate that ere the second act of the parliamentary drama be half played out , Lord ,. ToriN will have been driven to explain away , if not retract altogethei ' , the expressions which , were cheered to the echo by a reactionary House of Commons , as foreshadowing another League of Pilnitz . Some of the Budget bills still await legislative decision . There will be , it is said , a regular row on the Wine Licenses question , and a pitched battle on the Paper Duty . The most sanguine supporters of the Chancellor of the ExcmieQUEU begin to talk doubtfully of the necessity for . sacrificing so large an amount of revenue this year " for sake of an . experiment like that which he proposes to try in tlie art of cheap paper-making . Great doubts are entertained whether the price to the consumer would be perceptibly lessened by the sacrifice of £ 1 , 200 , 000 to the Treasury ; and increasing uneasiness is felt as to the depth of the financial chasm that already begins to be visible in 1861 . We should not , moreover , be surprised if certain Whig names were found wanting in the list of tlie division that is likely to take place on the Paper Duties . Jealousy of Mr . Gladstone ' s parliamentary position , distrust of his judgment as a financier , and , above all , antipathy to the pre-eminence sclf-assertcd by the merchant ' s son , combine in various minds in varying degrees to instigate tlie meditated mutiny and desertion : Without any desire to swear by Mr . OladstonJa as a prophet , we own we have a genuine sympathy-for him rather than with him ; and we should feel . it to be a deep disgrace to the Liberal party if , by a combination of despicable intrigues and pettifogging resentments , he were now to be hustled from power . But a man of genius thus . beset ' can be saved only by himself . If lie is wise he will be warned in time , and not wait- until he is circumvented . Mr . Gladstone must . -play out or lose the s'aiae . lie has gone too far to recede , or hesitate with safety , lit foreign affairs and in finance he has proved himself to be liberal enough ; but , unfortunately , on the pressing question of Iteforni i he has not only held back hitherto , but to his influence , amongst others in the Cabinet , is ascribed the dwarfish proportions of tho present measure , lie might clear this fence at a bound . Never was a great speech oil a great question more wanted ; never would present popularity and future power more certainly follow from a great oratorical effort . If Mr . Gladstone has but the courage to . speak as he alone can spe . iik on the Second Heading of the " Bill it will be carried this session ; if he . shirks his duty , in the hope <> f propitiating the ( Ihv . y and Clakhndon and ( j oWK . u factions , who arc already plotting his overthrow , he will foil in his object , and the Bill will bo lost . We say distinctly and advisedly , that with him the responsibility rests in u peculiar sense at tho present moment . People who wish to forget his illadvised apology for the maintenance ! of rotten , boroughs when , he s « it on tho Tory side of tlie House > vi . ll be driven to recall it , it ' , when the House reassembles , prompt and vigorous exertions be not jmulo to carry the Bill through Committee . It will bo said - —and said unanswerably— --that - hud the measure boon u better measure , iL would have had more support out of doors ; and that it is what it is , because Mr . Gladstone and other jnioinbers of the Carlton Club have shared in its production . We do not ( S « re to inquire just now into Cabinet mysteries . Mysteries' H them renmiu , so that the people arc not again bilked and baulked of all even the most anoderute concussions . If is pretty clear to all who ohooao to pec that , with half the jMii 8 iu . it holders of onjee , the promise of Noform is but an organized hypocrisy . Borne , of these worthies are actively cuga ^ 'd writing and speaking against the Bill ; and , as far as wo know , there i « not a man ofthcMii , excepting purhups Lord John himself , who i « taking tlio slightest part in counteracting tlieao iicIh of treachery . We call it treachery , for no other phrase is fitting ; and we are in possession ' of proofs which shall , not be wanting if if becomes . , necessary hereafter to disclose thoni . Meanwhile wu ie |)(! ii ( itthe late of tlie Reform Bill is in Mr . Ulaomtonn ' h hands . Let him eonliully anil geiioi'ouHjy unite with , Lor 4 John HuatiKM ., und dare tho ' Opposition to vote on ita umiu provision * , and tho Old Bailey iirts and ( Quarter Session quibbles of opposition will go for niiiiglil ; , as they did when tried ngidubt the J ' ronHi treaty and the Budget .

    Untitled Article

    April 14 , 1860 . J The Leader and Sahirday Analyst . 343

    The Second Act Of The Ministerial Play.

    THE SECOND ACT OF THE MINISTERIAL PLAY .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), April 14, 1860, page 343, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2342/page/3/