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No. 454, December 4, 18580 THE LEADER. 1...
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GERMANY. (From our ovm Correspondent.") ...
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IMPROVED OC EAN STEAMERS. In no departme...
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Post-offck Dismissals.—The Rev. John E. ...
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Transcript
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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.
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— ¦ —? Prance. (From Our Own Corresponde...
fin e may have induced the act of grace I know not , but there would be nothing surprising if it should turn out to be the prime mover . As a graceful act should never be done by halves , his Majesty should complete the reparation to M . de Montalembert by dismissing Messrs . de Moray and Walewaki ; arcades ambo- —Byron ' s translation , " They would ' be "' the first to desert him in his misfortune and to . turn their adoration to the rising sun . "
No. 454, December 4, 18580 The Leader. 1...
No . 454 , December 4 , 18580 THE LEADER . 1325
Germany. (From Our Ovm Correspondent.") ...
GERMANY . ( From our ovm Correspondent . ") December 1 . DtmiNG the past fortnight several versions of a speech said to have been addressed by the Prince Begent to his Blinisters have been in circulation . One of these versions I had translated and -was upon the point of despatching last week , when I discovered that it was not to be relied upon as authentic . We have now an authentic version of what the Prince really did sayrather late in the day , it is true , and forced out it would seem by the versions of parts of it which the Breslau Election Committee made public to influence the elections in favour of the Feudal or Junker party . The speech was delivered on the 8 th of November , and is literally translated as follows : —
• • ' For the first time after the senous crisis which we have passed through , I behold you whom my confidence has called to be the chief advisers of the Crown around me . Moments of this kind ( der Art ) are among the most difficult ( schiecrsten ) in the life of a monarch , and I , as Regent , hare felt them all the more deeply because an unfortunate circumstance ( Verhalttiiss ) has called me to my present position . The brotherly duty which I owe to my heavily-afflicted King and Lord caused me long to hesitate as to how the different doings ( Ertebnisse may be translated by " events , " ' " occurrences , " or " experiences" ) which I had noticed during his Government were to be conducted into a better course { Bahn ) again without wronging ( zu nahe zu treten ) my brotherly feelings , and the love , care , and faithfulness with which our gracious King had carried on his Government .
" If I could now resolve to permit a change in the advisers of the Crown , it was because I found that all ¦ whom I selected held the same opinion which I hold , namely , that it shalt not now nor ever be the question to break " with the past ( von einem Bruche mit der Vergangtnheit nun und nimtnermehr die JRede sein soil ) . Naught but the careful and improving hand shall be applied where aught that is arbitrary or contrary to the wants of the age is proved to exist . You are all aware that the weal of the Crown and country are inseparable , and that the welfare of both rests upon sound , strong , conservative foundations . To discern correctly these wants , to weigh them , and to call them into life , that is the secret of State wisdom , avoiding at the same time all
extremes . Our task in this respect will be no eaay one , for an agitation has sho > vn itself in public life which , even if it is partly explicable , yet evinces signs of purposely overstrained ideas which must be opposed by measures on our part as circumspect as they will bo legal , and even energetic . What had been promised must be faithfully adhered to ; but without rejecting the hand of improvement , what has not been promised we must courageously prevent ( ver Mndern ) , Above * all , I warn you against the stereotype phrase , that the Government must submit to be driven onwards anil onwards to develop liberal ideas because they would otherwise force an opening for themselves . To this more especially , that which I before termed state ¦ wisdom , refers . When in all the acts of a Government truth , legality , and consistency « r « evident , then a
Government is strong , because it has a clear conscience , and -with this we have the right to rosist firmly everything evil ( allem Bo ' sen ) . In the managoment of our homo affairs , which is chiefly the province of tho Ministry of tho Interior and Agriculture , we have been tossing , since 1849 , from one extreme to tho other . From a communal settlement , which was to have introduced a crude self-government , we have been driven back to tho old state of things without properly taking into consideration tho wants of tho time , that would otherwise have led to a correct middle course To this it will be needful to apply tho hand of improvement at tho proper season ; but for tho present we must leave untouched what has just been restored for fear of producing fresh uncertainty and disorder which could only be hazardous .
• 'luo finances' have recovered in eight years from a very unfortunate state , so that not only is tho budget well balanced , but shows a surplus . Nevertheless , we are far from being able to meet all the demands made by the several branches of tho Administration . If , two years ago , tho estimates had been more correctly drawn up , wo might have been enabled , on their being gran tod , to meet pressing wants for many years to come . How mentis aro to bo found to meet these wants will bo a ohiof task of tho future , keeping at the same time the real capabilities of tho country for taxation in view . 4
Trade and tho handicrafts , nnd tho means or communication bo closoly connected with them , have progressed to an extent never anticipated ; but even hero > vo must keen within compass , to prevent ourselves from
being injured by overtrading . The ways of communication must continue to have considerable means placed at their disposal ; but only with a due regard to economy , and in proportion with the requirements of other departments . . " The laws have ever made themselves respected in Prussia . It must , however , be our endeavour in the change which has taken place in the principles of the law to propagate sentiments of truth and equity amongst all classes of the population , so that justice may likewise be exercised by juries .
" One of the most difficult , and at the same time one of the most delicate , questions that has to be strictly watched is the ecclesiastical , a subject that has been , very much meddled with ( vercfrifen ) of late . In the first place , the utmost possible equality must rule between the two Christian confessions . In both Churches it must be the aim of the clergy earnestly to oppose the endeavours of those who are seeking to make religion the cloak of political objects . It cannot be denied that an orthodoxy has crept in which is incompatible with the basis of her belief , and which has hypocrites in-its train . This orthodoxy has been an obstacle to the efforts of the evangelical union , and nearly led to its ruin . It is my firm will and resolution to maintain and further the
same with all reasonable regard for the confessional point of view ; according as the decrees bearing upon this point prescribe ( mit aller billigen Beruchsichtigung des confessionetlen Standpunctes ; leie dies dis dakin einschlagenden Decrcte ror schreiben ) . To perform this task the agents must be carefully selected , and in some cases changed . All hypocrisy , cant , in short , all Church matters ( Kirclienwesen might here be rendered by " Church shams" ) , serving as a means to egotistical objects , must be unmasked wherever it is possible . True piety shows itself in the whole bearing 6 f men ; this must be borne in mind , and distinguished from outward show and
been so unpatriotic as to imagine it . The excellence of the organisation of the Prussian army belonged to those accepted facts whiqb . to doubt was a sign of folly and ignorance . The Prussian army requires to be reformed , and to do this political quiet and money are necessary . No wonder the Prince is considered to have spoken in a liberal sense ; we might almost fancy we were reading an extract from some English newspaper upon English affairs , instead of a speech from the ruler of Prussia . The Prince is the boldest Liberal in
Geror legislative power of the country . The King in Prussia is King by God ' s grace , not by the will of the people . " The tendency of this speech is so evident that any remarks upon it are almost heedless , yet I would direct attention particularly to the observation touching trial by jury , and the requirements of the people in the matter of education . According to the Prince , the Prussian people , who in his opinion ought , And in the
opinion of many persons in England do , stand at the head of intelligence , are not quite ripe yet , in this enlightened age , arid in intellectual and highly educated Prussia , for trial by jury . The Prince requests his Ministers to exert themselves to propagate correct notions of justice and equity amongst the people , that some day or other justice may be exercised even by juries . The much bepraised Prussian system of education has not been successful yet in teaching the people a knowledge of right and wrong !
Further , the declaration that the Prussian army needs reorganisation because in the two brief episodes of war many things had been discovered to be obsolete and useless , is well worth the attention of all who were violent in condemning certain short-comings of the English army in the Crimea . To hear the Prussian army thus spoken of sounds little less than high treason . [ t is certain that no Prussian newspapers would have ventured to write thus , and no Prussian would have
mummery . Nevertheless , I hope the higher a man ' s position is in the state , the more disposed he will be to set a good example in attending church . The Catholic Church is confirmed in its rights by the constitution . Encroachments beyond what this allows are not to be tolerated . Education must be guided by the sentiment that Prussia ought to stand at the iiead of intelligence through her higher academies and through her common schools , which aflbrd necessary instruction to the different classes of the population without , however , raising these classes beyond their spheres . Larger means will be needful to this end .
many . The result of the elections is now entirely known . The Constitutional party , in the strictness of the term , counts about 100 members—about 120 new members may be looked upon as adherents of the Ministry .
" The army it was that created the greatness of Prussia and enlarged her boundaries by victory ; the neglect of it brought about a catastrophe , gloriously repaired , however , by the timely reorganisation , as testified by the victories of the war of independence . An experience of forty years and two short episodes of war have meanwhile opened our eyes to the fact that much has become obsolete and requires alteration ; for this we want a quiet political state and money , and it would be a fault attended by heavy penalties wore we to make a show of a cheap army organisation ¦ which , when it came to the push , would , consequently , not answer our expectations . The army of Prussia must be powerful and respected , that it may , when need be , prove a heavy political weight in the balance . And
this brings us to the political rank of Prussia in regard to foreign powers- Prussia must stand on a friendly footing with all the great powers without subjecting herself to foreign influences , and without prematurely binding her hands with treaties . With all other powers a friendly connexion is likewise prudent . In Germany , Prussia has moral conquests to make by wise legislation at honie , by advanciug all the elements of morality , and by tho adoption of elements of unity such as the Customs Union , which must , however , undergo a reform . The world must feel that Prussia is at all times rendy to protect the right . A firm , consistent , and , if need be , an energetic conduct in politics , combined with circumspection and prudence , must create for Prussia that political respect which by her material force alone sho is not capable of gaining ' .
"To follow mo in this path , and to pursue our way with honour , I require your aid and your counsel , which you will not deny mo . May we over prove of one mind for the weal of our country and tho monarchy , by the grace of God . " I presumo that few of your readers will bo inclined to say , on perusing tho foregoing address , that it sounds like the programme of a Liberal Ministry guiding their nation to a pnth of enlightened froodom ; yet it has found groat favour among all Libornls in Germany . Judging by the extracts which had somehow or tho other got into circulation , most persons imagined that
the Prince would rule in a more absolutist spirit than tho King , more especially as tho absolutists , or as they term themselves Conservatives , laid particular stress upon that paragraph where the Kogent expresses his firm resolution not to allow any question of a broach of or separation from tho paat , Baying , in other words : — 'Wo shall act very diflbrontly to the formqj ministers in many things , but for all that wo do not intend to tolerato tho least encroachment upon tho kingly authority or any infringement upon tho privileges of thoso persons whom we havo raised up to bo an aristocracy about the throno , nor do wo intend to permit tlio Landtag , or Parliament ; to rogard itsolf aa the guardian
Improved Oc Ean Steamers. In No Departme...
IMPROVED OC EAN STEAMERS . In no department of British commercial enterprise ha 3 improvement been so striking , and attended with such important result ? , of late years , as in th ^ construction of sea-going steam-ships . This kind of improvement is still making rapid progress . From the rate of ten or eleven miles per hour , at which our first-class steampackets were propelled , they have advanced to twelve , or even fifteen miles , and- the Great Eastern is expected to move at least at the rate of seventeen miles an hour . Before she can be sent to sea , however , the intelligence comes to us from Baltimore that . Mr . Winans has constructed and launched an iron vessel which can be propelled at the rate of thirty miles an hour . She ia formed of two cones , united at their base , which is the centre of the ship , and the two ends are perfect points of solid iron . If she will float , and can be moved with
this velocity and be accurately steered—which seems a very doubtful matter—such vessels will entirely alter naval warfare , and render all our present outlay for men-of-war of no use . Her bow will be n pun . ch of many hundred tons impelled at a velocity approximating to that of a cannon ball . If she cannot be used aa an implement of war , yet for transmitting mails , passengers , and objects of great value , which will bear a high freight , she will be far superior , nccording to Mr . Winnns ' s statemonr , to all vessels previously constructed . At home , too , efforts nre being made to outdo tho promised speed of tho Leviathan . Tho Atlantic Royal Mail Stenm Company ( Galvvay line ) have given ttoeir first contract to Mosars , Palmer and Allport , steam-ship builders of Neweastlc-upon-Tyne , for three powerful express steamers , which are promised to be " superior to any afloat , " nnd to have n guaranteed minimum speed of twenty statute miles per hour .
Post-Offck Dismissals.—The Rev. John E. ...
Post-offck Dismissals . —The Rev . John E . Cox , and several other gentlemen of high respectability , have waited upon Lord Colchester to urge the reinstatement of Martin , tho letter-carrier , who was summarily dismissed for acting as chairman of a meeting of lettercarriers . The claims of Martin to his lordship's generous consideration were very strongly urged by Lord Erucst Bruce and others , but apparently with very little effect . His lordship , however , stated that a new scale of remuneration for letter-carriers wns being drawn up , which ho thought would give groat satisfaction to the men . What is this but an admission of the justice of their complaints ?
_ , Pumao Hkalth . —Tuo return of tho Registrar General exhibits < v very heavy rate of mortality for the paat week . The number of doatha was 1802 , being Slfi ia excess of tho previous wook , and 037 over the average rato for tho corresponding period . The births last woefc amounted to 1761 . Dr . LoiHoby also reports the tnortam * for tho City as unusually high , tho deaths being 102 , which is 10 more than that of any week daring tho preceding throe years , and 73 per cent , above th « average .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 4, 1858, page 21, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_04121858/page/21/
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