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Northern Star (1837-1852), 27th November 1852, Edition 2 of 2, Page 1, All eyes have this week been fixed upon ...

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    • REVIEW OF THE WEEK.
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      Ar00103

      No. 16,-New Series.] London, Saturday, N...

      No . 16 ,-New Series . ] LONDON , SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 27 , 1852 . [ Price ¦ Fourpence Halfpenny

      Review Of The Week.

      REVIEW OF THE WEEK .

      All Eyes Have This Week Been Fixed Upon ...

      All eyes have this week been fixed upon the parliamentary gladiators . The fight which it was said would come off has began in earnest . Disraelli would willingly have avoided the contest , but the other party was resolved that he should not . He was willing to clear up the ambiguity of the Queen ' s speech , and to admit that free trade having been enacted , is producing benefits , and should be persevered

      in . Bat the Whigs were too eager to get back to office to allow a treaty to be patched on these , or indeed any terms , if they could help it . They took care that the renunciation of protection should be accompanied by such circumstances of degradation as no men would allow to be invoked upon them . It is difficult to see what any body can want more , than that men should recognize a policy and agree to abide by it ; that is to say , men who are not seeking for something for themselves . But the fact is , as everybody knows , that what the

      « ' outs want , is to be in , and they had much rather that Lord Derb y would give them a fair excuse for assisting them , than that he should adopt their political creed . There is no telliug how far they would have succeeded in their object , but for the appearance of a third party upon the scene . Lord Palmerston when the fight is at the hottest , steps in between the combatants , and assuming all the moderation of a peace-maker , strikes up their hands , and proposes his own erms of accommodation . He does this in a diplomatic fashion

      which does no discredit to his past experience . He does not think either party quite right ; neither does he think either party altogether wrong . He can make allowance for the violence of the opposition , but he recommends them not to quarrel about words , and to let bygones be bygones . He thinks , probably , his own consciousness teaches him that , that a window in each , man ' s breast is not exactly desirable * Knowing , as he does , that motives are not always to bear scrutiny ' , he would not be too particular in asking why gentlemen change their opinion . It ought to suffice that they do change them , and that

      change is possible , perhaps easy ; it needs no other argnnient than the memory of his owu life to convince him . Lord Palmerston in making his proposition , which draws the finest possible line of distinction between two resolutions so nearly alike , has undoubtedly played a first-rate card . He assumes a vantage ground which a mediator alone can occupy , and invests himself with the dignity of a judge . He appears to speak the voice of the enfranchised part of the nation , which wants its business done instead of its time wasted in party squabbles . Whichever side wins or loses

      he cannot be the worse off . Either way fortune favours him . If his proprosition be rejected he has given up no principle , violated no promise , deserted no ally . If it be accepted he gains the importance of having settled a difficult question to the satisfaction of most people , and the additional satisfaction of having revenged himself upon Lord John Eussell , whom he envies for his power , hates for his

      interfering dogmatism and despotism , and despises for his lack of ability . It may seem hard to thus criticise the proceedings of a man who seems to be so fair and candid upon the surface , but , alas ! for charity , we are obliged to judge of tl \ Q future by the past , and to read a man ' s motives by the light which his life throws upon them .

      It does not seem at all improbable that Palmerston will triumph . The ministerialists will be glad to avail themselves of that loop-hole of escape , and the free traders and whigs , if we . may judge by the tone of their organs , are likely to make a virtue of necessity and submit . The Times , which without recanting its anti-corn law and great liberal views , is inclined toward Disraeli , from that sympathy which one clever rogue has with another , chuckles at this second

      betrayal of the protectionists by their leaders , and at the baulk the whigs have unexpectedly met with . The Daily News is fairly furious at the threatened disappointment , and Cassandra-like cries « , woe , " at the prospect of Manchester for once being nowhere , and the Globe , consoling itself as it best may with philosophy , says , that as in mechanics , allowance must always be made for friction , so in all Mure debates it will be necessary to calculate upon the effect

      ot Palmerston . Takino- a deeper view of the under-bearing of this disgraceful scramble for " pelf , power , and place , " for it is nothing more . We ask how it concerns the great masses of the people , . The answer is that it does . not concern them at all . They have no voice in the national parliament-no concern in or controul over its

      acts . Thev have a certain amount of " material freedom" of liberty to come and go ] and do what they can ; but as regards real power , the power ^ to accommodate the laws to their just wants , and to then

      All Eyes Have This Week Been Fixed Upon ...

      need-of elevation , they are on a parjwith the slaves of America . Whichever band of mercieonaries happens to be in or out , a coerced majority must be ruled by a hostile minority . ; Whichever happens to hold office , the people will have as little to fear from the lords of he land , as from the lords of money and manufactories . The one will try to keep up the value of that gift of the creator to all men . The land which they , as well as their opponents call their , property , the other will derive a trade , though It be' in : the bones and sinews of their

      fellows , and coin gold though it * be out oflieir life blood . The first motto of the people is " a plague on bothypur houses , " and the true policy , the attempt to form a national party independent of either ; The Daily News , the Manchester organVpays that the country would rise in revolt against any attempt to meddle with commercial freedom , and seems to justify insurrection . 4 'How true it is that " one man may steal ahorse while another may | uot look over the gate . " What did this same Daily News say ; wh | h it apprehended that people were going to rise for their political r / ghts ? If our recollection

      serves us , it prescribed—Special constables " ; policemen , . horse , foot , and artillery . Clearly " what is sauce forghe goose is not sauce for the gander ; " but the time may- come when it will be . These embrvo resurrectionists might remember that th || : doctrii » es they covertly preach may be as likely to subvert as to siifiport their ckss- ^ -power . Convocation is still sitting , and fat-plmalists do not seem at all inclined to separate quietly . Nothing short of what Cromwell did for the Hump will . do for them ; but where isihe Cromwell . Tyrant- —as

      in some things he was " Old Noll ;* ' is sadl y -wanted just now in other places beside Convocation . Witlij regarid . to this clerical parliament , there are several parties whose differences ; seem to be utterly irreconcileable . One does not want synodicalswition at all ; another would maintain the power of Convocation / as i £ isf ; : a third would make it include the working-clergy ; and the fourth ^ wants to liave the laity admitted . The two middle parties ; might J ^ ree to some . terms of compromise . The first three are iilthe main decidedly opposed to the last . In one tune or another the sain % songfis always sung : at a sort of ecclesiastical anthem , a ( jovernnignt Jylpriests , and priests alone

      for priests only . The Church of Rome says it boldly at the top of its voice ; the Church of England qoatep it in a faint . mnion behind its hand . They all think that the church ^ means the clergy , that the laity are not the church , but belong-to % & As a sort- of temporalspiritual property , in which the ordained have a vested interest ; perhaps it is as well that they should goon as far as they canj like monkeys , the higher they climb the greater will be the exposure , and the end may be that some of" the sons o ^ tlje cl ^ ircli , ' * if they do not pull down the rotten worni-eaten edifice ^ Jwul ^ set themselves to work to bring : about such a reform as will serve to give it a fearful shake .

      We are somewhat surprised to hear > that the Crown has sustained a defeat in the Irish Court of QueenV pencil . The Irish Attorney-Greneral moved to quash the Crowns / Inquisitions in . the case of the Six Mile Bridge Tragedy . The ground on which the application : was made , was that there was not any evidence to support the verdict of Wilful Murder . There was no absolute precedent for making such a rule , but there was an expression of opinion on the part of an English Jud ^ e that under certain circumstance |^| ach a thing might be done . The Irish Judges have , however , ren ^^ tjolact upon that approximation to a precedent , and decided to Jfeiih ' efe . case go for trial upon its merits . We are less surprised at the result , however , when we come

      to consider the reasons upon which that decision was founded . Quite in keeping with the ordinary staud-still disposition ol legal functionaries in general , they thought it wouldbe inconvenient to make a precedent . They looking in the dark web of war with their le ^ al owl eyes , saw sundry inconveniences arising from such a course , and most potent reason of all , it was apparent to them that even if they did quash the Inquisitions , the case would goffer trial after all Apart from the verdicts of the Coroners Jury , bills of indictment might be

      preferred at the assizes . Nobody doribts : ; biuV that would be the case . There is a blood fend , and revenge is as imperative in Ireland to-day as it was among the class of the olden time . More than ! . that , sectarian animosity is aroused , and it has become a . question of creed . Above all , the priests are interested in ii ^ md that being the case , it is certain that the affair will be pushed ; to the utmost extremity .

      What may be the finding of an Irish Jury / no one can pretend to say . It may be Catholic , or it may be so managed that a majority of Protestant Jurymen shall fill the box . Whichever way it is , no matter what evidence may be brought , there is too / much ground to fear that in that unhappy country Justice will , for its o ^ n sake , be but lightly considered . But if a final verdict ' of Guilty should pass , there is no doubt that the Crown will exercise the prerogative of mercy , and

      grant free pardons to the accused soldiers and magistrates . a 1 Readin g in the papers the accounts from the provinces , one would almost fancy that we were living in an Alpine [ country . Erom . every quarter comes intelligence of disastrous floods . North and south , east and west , the waters are out , arid one ' timid Yorkshire gentleman has taken into consideration the propriety of acting the part of Noah , by buildino- an ark for himself and his household In many places the railways are stopped from the embankments having been washed away , and the bridges fallen ; before the torrents . The , Severn is sweeping before it farm produce , and the implements of husbandry . and covering hundreds of houses to the chimney tops , The fens of

      All Eyes Have This Week Been Fixed Upon ...

      Lincolnshire are a great lake , and Oxford stands in its county in the midst of a sea . The Oxonians forsaking the river for the greater expanse are rowing upon the common . We have ' . hardly , as yet , sufficient data to determine how much of the ' past harvest ' has been lost by these inundations , but great fears are entertained of their effects upon the next year ' s crops . The Empire in France is accomplished . The representation of Crime has perched upon the summit of ambition . The imperial crown has been grasped by a blood-stained hand—the perjured lips will soon

      utter anew oath—the eagle will perch aboue corruption—and brutality will be cousecrated . That will accomplish the present degradation of France—that will complete the rottenness from which , perhaps , new life may spring . " When things come to the worst they are sure , to mend . " If there is any truth in that adage surely they must mend now ; or is there yet a lower gulf below that lowest , into which the nation has descended ? It is hard to tell . The numbers are not yet precisely known , but there are bets , that the votes for the President will exneed eight millions . It is . said , that in the municipality of the Seine the tickets , in the . Urn will represent more than five-sixths of the

      voters of the district . From the country the reports are given as still more decided ; of course no one will attach credit to the final announcement , whatever it may be . It couldbeas easyto sayten millions as eight . The number was pre-determined before the poll was taken—and it will be made—we shall never know how many voted , any more than we know how many fell iri the streets of Paris on the 2 nd of December . Those who . counted in the one case , counts in the other . Can it be supposed that a gambler who plays with false dice , will hesitate to use them when his last throw comes for his largest stake . Is it probable that he who stepped over mountains , will stop at a

      molehill ? Is it probable . that the homicide will shrink from forgery , or the perjurer pause at the sin of a single lie ? We remember somewhere to have read in a novel , surcharged with the terrible , ' that a man ( first slew another , and then putting a pen . in the dead hand , signed a will in his own favour . Surely the non-elect was prophetic . Ho forecast the part of Louis Napoleon to admiration * The history hf his power is full of' horrors . He smothered Liberty and slew her sons ; and how the pen in the dead hand , guided by his own , is bequeathing to him tlie freedom of all posterity . Well the end will come , ;! and then those who smite with the sword , shall in their turn be smitten .

      The marriage of the President with the Princesss Wasais now confidently talked of . . Some time ago we noticed the conversion of the lady from the protestant to the catholic church , and marked it as the sign of a coming event . A few nights ago her portrait was shewn in the palace to a few friends , and it is said that she is very young and handsome . What a ' fate for a young creature—to be wedded to such a monster in human form . Perhaps she has been bred up for a marriage of ambition , and is prepared to give her hand without her heart . If so , there is little to regret . The diadem may as well cover heartlessness as crime . The most important aspect of

      the afiair is that the marriage , if it be decided on , seems to indicate that the Emperor of Austria has given up all notions of opposing the Empire , and has finally abandoned the cause of the imbecile Bourbons . It was ahold stroks that of publishing in the Iloniteur the manifestoes of the excited republicans , and the protest of the Count de Chambord . The legitimists rave at the thought of

      degrading the son of kings by placing -him and his language upon the same level as those of prescripts . Folks may differ as to who suffered by the comparison , but this is certain , that . the republican documents showed they came from the pens of men who have both heads and hearts , intellect and courage , while the descendant of royalty has neither the intelligence to defend his claims nor the pith and manhood to assert them . Well may the Austrian Emperor , who has at the least soldierly qualities , leave the drivelling paltroon to his fate .

      It is another question to ask the meaning of that dark cloud which is gathering over Europe from another quarter . The Prussian Empire is almost a sealed land . The information we get from it is scanty , comes seldom , and is but little to be relied on . The despot closes up all avenues with an iron hand . It is however certain , that large masses of troops are congregating in i Poland , and swarming toward the western frontier . What is the i purpose of this movement ? It may be a dark omen for Louis , Na- poleon—it may be only a measure of preparation , to take advantage 3 of any events which may happen .

      Prussia seems to be . pla 3 ing a sure game . The time for the con- - eluding of the renewing of the Zollverein will soon expire , and shea looks on quietly , as though she were quite indifferent . She is making v ready to draw a cordon of Custom Houses around her frontier , audi to shut out her former allies—probably she has shrewdly estimatedd the effect of this course . The smaller . German States do not feelil quite so comfortable at the prospect before them . The manufacturers , * , if they would not strike for liberty , will for profits . Thoseie

      of Darmstadt have openly threatened , that if the Zollvereign is suf-ffered to expire they will , in a body , emigrate into Prussia , and sottleles there . The government has replied , that there is no intention-obfl abandoning the Prussian commercial alliance . That , probably , is theie ; fact with regard to many ot the smaller states . They are perfectly willing to play off Austria and Prussia against each other , and asass o-et the best terms for themselves , but when they must choose , thejey will cling to Prussia rather than to her half-bankrupt rival .

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Nov. 27, 1852, page 1, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_27111852/page/1/