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Leader (1850-1860), 28th July 1860, Edition 1 of 2, Page 684, Untitled Article

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  • Departments (2)
    • FRANCE, SYRIA, AND ITALY.
    • FRENCH EXPEDITION TO SYRIA.
  • Text (6)
  • Transcript

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      Untitled Article

      pose of aggression . I trust it is not . But the possession of the power to aggress frequently gives the desire to do so , and you are not entitled to rely upon the forbearance of a stronger neighbour . " Speaking of the navy ' France , his Lordship said in similar strain , " That is a ¦ navy which cannot be required for any purposes of defence for France , and which Ave are therefore justified in looking upon as an antagonist whom A \ -e mavhave ' To encounter . " We should be the last persons to preach a foolish confidence in the hero of the coup d ' etat , the country does not need frightening into precautions . j Unless the Admiralty deceives us , our navy is stronger than that of France , though . the desproportion is less than w . e should like , and General Peel , who . has no tendency to overrate o-ir forces , stated on s Monday night , that , after deducting « 0 , 000 meiffor India , and 40 , 000 for the colonies , Ave should have , including the possessions , " at least 160 , 000 regular troops available for the defence of the country . " " Then , " added the General , " with our army of reserve , the militia , and that magnificent army , or Volunteers , Avhich is noAV springing up on all sides , Avonld , if properly organized , place us beyond the reach of all aii * ni Avhatever . " General Peet . said nothing of the Irish Constabulary , of the Police , Avhojare noAV regularly drilled ; nor of the Coast Guardrail of whom put together would make a powerful addition to any force . If these preparations are so insufficient as to justify Lord Pamiekston ' s farming speech , what is he concealing from the people . And why does he not propose measures to popularize the Vohinbeer movement , which Avould rapidly give him another 100 , 000 men ? : / W ^ hen the French fleet is spoken of as not intended for defence we-must not forget that England is occasionally under bhe Tories , and that Lord Derby ' s Government evinced a strong disposition to prevent the French intervention in Italy , ;« id that our neighbours may be right in attributing their safety on this occasion to the large preparations Ayhieh they made ; : ' " ; - ¦¦ ' " 'Y ; V > ¦ ¦ : ¦ ¦ - '' . W .. .- . - ¦ . '¦¦ . . ' ¦ . ' - ¦¦ ' - _ ¦ ; - Unless sonie proof to the contrary appears , we snail regard , the Premier ' s speech as a further indication that his policy is Ijeeoming dangerously Reactionary , —that he _ looksTipon himself as a , Tory Minister , and ir prepared to- make the most unscrupulous use of power , in order to make Avars and rumours af Avars the means of diverting attention from the aggression of the Lords , and the urgent need of measures of Reform .

      Untitled Article

      ¦ g 4 The Saturday Analyst and Leader . [ July 28 , 1860 .

      France, Syria, And Italy.

      FRANCE , SYRIA , AND ITALY .

      French Expedition To Syria.

      FRENCH EXPEDITION TO SYRIA .

      Untitled Article

      IT is gratifying to learn that Sicily is iioav completely free . The troops of the hated Bourbon have by this time left the fortifications of Messina and . Syracuse , being Avanted to defelitrtlieir master on the mamlmul , to AvHMrtlle ~ AVai ; oT ± nde =- ~ pendence is noAV to be transferred Thus far Garibaldi has ichievedu brilliant success ^ Avhich all Europ e Avill applaud , jiid the " autograph letter " from Victor Emmanuej , Avill not prevent his capturing Naples , if he has the opportunity of so : loing . The royal injunction to be quiet mvist be regarded as i concession to diplomatic remonstrances , intended as a demonstration of Avhat the red tapists thought , and not of that which the gallant King himself desired . If Garibaldi succeeds as Avell on the mainland as he has done in Sicily , both Oavoku ancl Victor Emanuel will be ready enough to acuept thep-ofitable consequences of his labours ; while if he fails , they can point to the " autograph letter , " and say they advised him not to do it . We do not accuse the Sardinian King and his astute Minister of intending to deceive anybody in the transaction . Garibaldi ^ no doubt , is perfectly aware of their Avishes , and neither the diplomatists nor the King of One Sicily are entitled to believe the declaration they have managed to extort . It is a pity that diplomacy Avnt ne \ 'er let anything be managed truthfully , but happily for Italy there is a higher kind of truth than that of Avords , and wo trust she may still find it in the statesmanship of Cavour , as well as in the soldiership of her favourite chief . A curious plan is now put forth by Nome friend of Austria , in the shape of a proposal to sell Venetia for five hundred inillions _ of JVancs , provided _ Siirdhna "will agree to 7 estore "" l ' uscun " y ' " to ™ the ttouso of "Lorraine ~ A ' nairiBdntli- " tional sale of Venetia would be the wisest move Austria coukl make , nnd would , no doubt , be well met at the Court of Turin ' ; but the restoration of an Austrian pro-Ccmsul in Ttisoany would bo a fatal stop for Sardinia to take , as it ' Avould amount to a betrayal of the natiqnal cause , and the * creation of an obstacle to tlio great design of Italian unity , . . which the patriotic party we cletermiued to curiy out . I It iw not . at all unlikely ihafc Austria will bo anxious to | crime to ul Iciist 11 toinpouu ' y settlement of liev Italian business , !

      as France must have alarmed her by so readily preparing an expedition to Syria , and thus manifesting a desire to interfere with the affairs of the last r on which the House of Hapsburg has its oAvn designs . It is " ., to be hoped that the peace between the Maronites and 'Druses , and the efforts of the Sui / tax to punish the guilty parties will remove all pretext for active intervention ; but if not , the effect of French meddling . . will be to weaken the little authority remaining to the Porte , and confusion in Syria Avill soon be followed by troubles in other i ) laces , and perhaps on the Danube , Avhich more French assistance Avill be required to redress . The Syrian intelligence is too contradictory to be reliable , and Ave trust it is not true that the Sultan only intends despatching 6 , 600 troops to the scene of disturbance , ancl that Damascus , aviA its 150 , 000 inhabitants will not suffer itself to be the prey of the Druses . The renewed attacks of the French Government on the Press , and the strange doctrines laid doAVn by M . Billault indicate a sense of danger Avhich the Imperial manager -will try to ward off b y directing attention to some startling effects of continental policy ; and thus Europe will - be kept in alarm until a crash occurs , and the second Empire furnishes a story AVith a moral not less striking than that which historians have draAvh from the first .

      Untitled Article

      I N one of his cleverest pamphlets M . About affirms that of all the questions which affect the peace of Europe ^ the Eastern question is the most urgent . " The sick man , " he says , " is on his deathbed , the succession may open at any moment . " IJnfortun ^ tely , ^ gress of events ^ in Syria seems likely to hasten the decease of . /' . . the sick man , " and add to the complications of the Eastern question , by intrpducing upon the theatre ' . ofconflict ^ ^ the mightiest nations of the West , \ vhose eyes . have long been fixed upon thejfertile province now convulsed by civil strife , wHere the local Government seems totally unable to put an end to the petty warfare of two mountain tribes , whose united ponulation does not much exceed a quarter of a million The Druses , who are m 6 re warlike , and better organised than their Maronite rivals , though inferior in numbers , have obtained a decisive advantage in the recent struggle , which they are pursuing with suqh ruthless ferocity that the total extirpation (> r expulsionof the Maronites must be the result , unless they receive speedy and powerful assistance . They have , indeed , been much to blame if ( as a correspondent of the Times twenty years resident in Beyrout asserts ) the present onslaught of the Druses has arisen from the discovery of a Maronito plot to put an end to their national existence ; stiHf hey are a uhristiair ^ l 5 e ~^ h ^ forfbnTtct ^ centuries have maintained themselves in their mountain strongholds . For theaakeof humanity , therefore , and for that of a common Christian faith , the nations of the West must come to their aid ; especially as the Government to which they pay tribute , and from which they are entitled to look for protection , has riot only refused to aid them , hut has also betrayed them into the hands of their hereditary and merciless foes , and , even in some cases , assiHted these foes in their work of treachery . But interference Avith the sovereign rights of a monarch with whom they are at peace , even when that monarch is unable to assert his supremacy by maintaining order within his own dominions , is a matter of great delicacy and difficulty . No one can object to ships of war being sent to the coast of Syria to afford protection to Maronite refugcoH flying from the exterminating « word of the Druses ; but Franco now proposes , without the consent of the Sultan asked or obtained , to invade Syria , an integral part of his dominions , with an army of 13 , 000 men , in order to assist the Maronitos , Avhose conduct may , after all , have been the original cause of the strife from which they have since so fearfully suffered , and to chastise the Druses , who , in attacking their adversaries perhaps only anticipated the assault prepared for themselves though their subsequent atrocities admit of no justification . Now , such a step on the part , of France , oven with the consent of the l other ^ Wostei-ii l ^ wevsjapnears to u ^ a flagrant breach ofjnternational lawT ^ hel ^ at ?^ with ^ rlMyl"Wfie hiiTlaMy assistedto deliver her from the iron gimp of Kuswia ; she is bound to her by treaties Unless , therefore , her intervention is distinctly cull ©" for by the Sultan , the despatch of an army into his dominioiiH to assist one body of his subjects , and to make war upon another , is the act , not of a friend but of a foo , not of an ally but of an aggressor . But , besides being a violation of the law of nations , thin expedition , part of which has already sailed , is a political blunder . It will be rostly ; and the finances of France are not in a nourishing » tnti \

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 28, 1860, page 684, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2358/page/4/