On this page
-
Text (3)
-
October 4,1856.1 THE L E AD E H. 949 I
-
POLITICAL QUIETISTS. A IiIMIteb but resp...
-
THE NEW POINT O]? HONOUR. Some new point...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Anecdotes Ot Patltonage. It May Be Fairl...
she had performed fifty times before . In per answer to inquiries made , a reply was given its * with great nonchalance , that , if the friends ot des the young man were at all distrustful , good lib * security would be accepted for the payment lib < of the money after he had been inducted into an ; tlie place . The oifer was not accepted ; but gr « if any one doubts the authenticity of the facts , vei we shall be glad if he will supply us with some wo other key to the advertisements about " Ppy- no oettbs" which are constantly appearing in sis the public journals . That is the way of it . me Young Sampsons fresh from the arms of St . th < John ' s "Wood Delixahs , rend the British ofi Lion , and eat the honey out of his entrails , tin Everywhere it is the same . From ^ under- we secretaryships to tidewaiterships , kissing goes th by favour . In the army it is rife as ever , in or spite of Mr . Layak : d , whom we could supply bj with matter for a series of new Philippics . P « Here is a gallant young major of five-and tfc twenty , who has gathered all the laurels of the R Crimean campaign without ever running the si risk of a bullet , a youth who has been rocked tl and dandled into a warrior , who was made a in sharpshooter in spite of a glass eye . And P why ? For no better reason than because s € his sister bad the luck to make a good match . b < One more case , and we have done . It is pi an humble incident compared with the rest ; ai but sufficiently indicative of the existing state ifc of things ^ A country squire of great interest hi had a son , who ( whether through the force of pi example , or of original sin , or of a natural pi defect of intellect ) manifested from his early e youth the basest and most degraded tenden- t ( cies . After having been expelled from several si schools for the most ingrained ia , nd incorrigible ii wickedness , the lad was sent to the navy , Ii Some cousin of his commanded a seventy- n four , and the opportunity was not to be n neglected for converting that noble service ' 1 into a reformatory for scoundrels . As might I have been expected , the experiment was not c successful . With an indulgent relative for t a driver , young Hopeful was not long in a kicking over the traces . In a short time , he c was disgraced apparently beyond redemption : c not even cousinship could screen him . The t offences of which he was convicted were , i indeed , unusually shameful . Having robbed ] his messmates , he bad contrived by means of t false testimony to fix the crime upon an < innocent sailor , wlio was flogged and dis- ( missed the service in consequence . "When his own culpability was discovered , of course there was nothing for it but to cut his epaulets and buttons off , and set him upon the nearest shore . Surely one would have thought this enough to blast the prospects of any man , liowever great his interest ! But no ; the squire , his father , was a wise man in his generation , and bided his time . Under what disguise do we next find this young felon , — as unmitigated a felon as may now be found in Millbank Penitentiary P Why under the uniform of an officer of the British aimy ; belonging to a profession whoso proudest boast has ever been that its members are imbued with the untarnished soul of honour . After being drammed out of one branch of the public service , this son of Dives is permitted to creep into the other . The sequel might have been expected : drunkenness , insubordination , falsification of the roster , breach of all laws and principles of honour ; such wore the natural results of such a career , and once more jjn ignominious expulsion from an honourable position . The youth is dcac now—drink and debauchery killed , him ; "but the crime remains , and those who connived at it are chargeable with it . itself desp lib any great very no sist more off the that on by the i s she [ the i , L y . i ; i ifc b f or I r - " tor 1 s v ¦ - ¦ e e it > t w n ie i : ie b , d Df ii 3- is se ts st iis n , lie ds at id he y ; tst , re ir . of cr- iel in- er , ir ; er , om jad jut ned
October 4,1856.1 The L E Ad E H. 949 I
October 4 , 1856 . 1 THE L E AD E H . 949 I
Political Quietists. A Iiimiteb But Resp...
POLITICAL QUIETISTS . A IiIMIteb but respectable section of politicians have set themselves to the task of oli- of
persuading the English people not to concern he with the politics of the Continent . The the otic governments are too powerful , the ha \ eral governments are too insincere , the ha ( liberal party is too weak , to render probable an ( satisfactory result from a renewal of the abs conflict suspended in 1849 . It is not Im clear whether reasoners of this class hir would recommend that England should have foreign policy at all , or whether they in- Ru on a policy of mere submission . The tw logical of their representatives explain bei themselves by the simple formula " Hands tio ! " implying the old idea of intervention for th < sake of enforcing non-intervention . It fer would seem a very intelligible proposition tei England should abstain from all action thi the continent of Europe until challenged wi an aggressive course on the part of other pe Powers . It is difficult , however , to define beginning of aggression . When did the of Russian aggression upon Turkey begin—when T ; uttered her menaces , or when she crossed m Pruth ? In the first instance , a vigorous nr intervention on the part of the Western th Powers might have been so successful as to re seem unnecessary ; but then it would have s < been denounced by Quietist politicians as v : premature . Being delayed until the Russian w and Turkish Empires were in actual collision , w was too late to prevent a war . At present tc has Austria made any aggression on Sardinia , o 1 against what remains of the national inde- IV pendence of Italy ? If she has , it is time , even according to the rationalistic pacifica- si 8 , to exclaim " Hands off ! " if she has not , Ii she must continue strengthening her forces , si increasing her preparation , lengthening the o line of her intrusion into Italy , and a . war I must arise in Europe before a liberal govern- a ment can interfere in the interest of peace . I This would be a strange policy . So with t Naples . We hear the scheme of intervention a complained of . But on what grounds ? Is " there a possibility that Naples , as its affairs 1 are at present administered , can long enjoy , ( or rather endure , its abject peace ? You must cast the world into a trance before it can b g t tranquil under torture . If , then , an insur- i rectionary movemeut is inevitable hi the { Kingdom of the Two Sicilies—a movement 1 that will spread through the peninsula—the ' question for English politicians , even the coldest , is , whether it is for their interest , or for the general interest of Europe , that the movement should fail , and be succeeded by still more infamous excesses of despotism , which , in their turn , must lead , finally , to revolt after revolt , until the nation is ruiued or the Government reformed . Whatever England may determine to do France will meddle ; Austria will work her way . down . the centre of the peninsula , and fortify the Adriatic coasts ; the Italian people will be forced more bitterly into antagonism with their rulers ; Piedmont will become more and more isolated ; and the national party will recognize its only hope in a general rovolu- tion . Then will conic interventions from all sides , and it is not difficult to foretel the result if Quietism is to stifle the intellect and the humanity of the English nation . The vain struggling * of diplomacy have shown that Europe has nothing to hope from the voluntary actions of the several military Governments . After 1849 there was a loud report of reforms in Hungary and Lombardy , undertaken by Austria . The illusion has vanished , and the Concordat in one country , and military violence in another , are in convulsive conflict with the national spirit . Austrian Italy has beon converted into a vast campj tho frontiers aro armed , ns if to oppose an invasion ; tho Emperor Fkancis Joseph ia in terror lest Venice and Milan , upon , tho occasion of his projected visit , have had and hint the that l v j j of i T 1 3 i o e s a i , t to i , of > - j , , - ; , It 3 , e of ir I- a e . ; h in [ s " rs y , st pe r- ie it ie " ie 3 t , be jy tn , to ed ig- Ie ; tre , tic red eir ind vill lu- all she i , nd avo om ary nul
| \ : | should make a sullen protest against his au- ? thority . The municipalities of those cities been invited to vote money , which they steadily withheld ; and many a Lombard Venetian noble lias been warned that his absence from the Opera on the night of an Imperial 'bespeak' will be construed into a of treason . ' ¦ ' . Between the Western Powers , Naples , and Russia , between Austria and Piedmont , between Piedmont , and Rome , and Tuscany , between the people of Rome , and the Legations , and France , between Muratism . and National Party , such irreconcilable differences exist , such a play of contending interests has arisen , such passions are at work , it seems to us utterly fatuous to count ; with any confidence on a prolongation of the ; ; peace of Italy beyond next spring . It appears to us , then , that the initiation I a public movement at Newcaatle-onyne , in favour of Italy , has not been , premature . The Government is active , and the nation should be active also , in order that the Government may feel the pressure of real liberal opinion . We may do some service , at the outset , by stating the exact views of the National Italian , Party , after which we may explain the position of those who , friendly to the Italian cause , hesitate promote the new movement , on account the imperfect understanding between M . Mazzxni and Count Gavotjb . The National Party has not , in this instan . ee , inade the first appeal to England . has been invited to accept English assistance ; but it affirms that the first period English agitation ought to'be yow closed . Even diplomacy has paved the way for an gitation of a positive character . That the Italians are a wronged and oppressed people , that they feel their oppression , that they are actively preparing to emancipate themselves , lias been publicly and officially acknowledged by friends and foes , "b y the European Governments , as well as by the European press . " That they can only em ancipsite themselves by insurrection is the central maxim of the ' party . The wants of Italy are political and national , and these wants no local and administrative reforms can satisfy . Neither Pope , nor King , nor Emperor , can grant anything without turning regicide . Every concession would now be a weapon in . our bands ; and they know it . It is too late . They must be tyrants or fall . " Thesu words will bo recognized by some of tho Friends of Italy . The whole burden of the national movement cannot be thrown upon Piedmont That kingdom , ' forming an integral part of the European system , bound by treaties , and limited by circumstances of territory and population , may bring an army to the support of . the Italian cause , "but cannot be expected , alone and unassisted , to stand foiward and confront Austria , at tho risk of being confronted by France . With referenco to her future position , it should bo known that a compromise has been effected betvVeen the different sections of the Italian party , which have agreed to leave iindiacussed for tho present all questions connected with forms of government , and to assert tho one principle of Tho Nation for the Nation .
The New Point O]? Honour. Some New Point...
THE NEW POINT O ]? HONOUR . Some new point of honour has been , adopted among gentlemen . Will any of our correspondents inform us what it is ? for the behaviour of gentlemen before the public has completely thrown us out in our reckoning- , Our difficulty is the greater , since those gentlemen should bo gentlemen par excellence , for they are all soldiers , and some of thorn
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 4, 1856, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_04101856/page/13/
-