On this page
-
Text (3)
-
•NTo: 446, October 9,1858.] THE LEADER. ...
-
THE PRUSSIAN REGENCY. The Crown Prince o...
-
LORD JOHN RUSSELL AND-LOUD DERBY. Soatg ...
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.
Does France Meditate Avar-With Us-? With...
fleets and powers may become as formidable as a lanre power . The writer goes on to state : — - There are sinister indications which manifest the existence of other designs in the mind of the French ruler , and Cherbourg is one of these . And then he refers to an article in the Revue des Deux Mondes , in which the writer says that " in case France does not possess herself of the dominion ol the sea" —this is significant— "it would be imprudent for her to concentrate her principal naval resources at Cherbourg—her squadrons would only be in safetv at Toulon or Brest . " Commenting on
We believe , on the other hand , a little more practical vanity would be of advantage . We know of no race who will take , and does take , open abuse of themselves or their institutions so readily as Englishmen . The Anglo-Saxons are the only people who yield to Others that superiority which they themselves may justly claim . Let any one enter a public meeting or a discussion society , and they will find that the most popular orators are those who abuse England and Englishmen the most , nd who glorify other nations at her expense .
this article , " A Prussian" declares : — The lessons of 1813 and 1815 have been lost on the partisans of Napoleonism . Not only the military spirit of France , so dangerous to the peace of Europe , is , in spite of all its final failures , and in spite of the general peaceable and commercial character of the age , again awake , and springs forth in the petitions , addresses , and other warlike manifestations of the soldiery ; but even the old revolutionary idea of bringing deliverance to other nations make 3 again its appearance , and tries to -catch the vain and credulous multitude . This is indisputable . The author of the pamphlet ridicules in no measured terms the pretence which France will most probably put forth for declaring war—that France comes to other nations , and to England especially , " not as a conqueror , but as a deliverer , " who is to " free the masses from the oppressive English aristocracy , ' who lead a joyous life in the midst of general misery , and a population wanting bread , clothing , and shelter . '" " A Prussian" thus strips the veil from this hollow pretence : — If anything , the government of Louis Nflpoleon has entirely " extinguished , in the nations of the Continent , the hope that any assistance to freedom will come to them from France . Though many institutions of England are strange and unnatural to continental life , yet the Continent beholds in the principles on which English political life rests , the true road to freedom and prosperity . Should Louis Napoleon dare to attack England , he may be sure that the democrats of Europe will not be blinded by Ms cry of universal suffrage , and that all that is liberal and patriotic . oh the Continent , Constitutionalist or Republican , will rally against him . Heferring to the number of pamphlets recently issued from the French press , under the eye of our u faithful ally , " all urging war with England , the following sensible . remarks are made : — Is it not one of the many signs that there are still alive in one portion of the French people the old feeling of jealousy and hatred , and that the Government of France , whilst professing friendship and good-will towards England , far from suppressing those feelings , allows them to be fostered and to . grow . Almost every day brings fresh complaints from English correspondents , 4-Vx *• 4-Ii . a ntvtct !•»/ %£ ! + 1 I 0 iin « if t . ti tv & nnrfi liicf t . Vl 1 Q pnil 11 t . W f 1 Vl > % / siaw
. * ( illclli IIIO ¦ lll / O b UV « I bliu IMiuiiug ugi * iiig ^ ^ .. v •**¦•* % j , » w allowed to be spread through the provinces . In vain the organs of commercial France try to assure England that these opinions nre but the utterances of individual pamphleteers . In vain they may protest against any meditated breach of friendship with the English people . The wondrous instinct of the people of England , as well as France , forebodes tho coining stojm . The French pamphleteer is right . All tho people of Europe believe firmly that " Napoleon III . is meditating one of those great deeds with which he has before this astonished tho world . " ' We recommend theso remarks to the notico of the cx-Chanccllor of tho Exchoquer . After showing that in . both countries there exists & war party—we do not concur in the assertion that in this country any considerable body of individuals desire war , but we arc firmly convinced , from personal observation and knowledge , that a large party exists in France with whom war with England would bo welcome and popular—the writor says : — There is another point of contest between tho two nations—their national pride , wo may say their national vanity . Each boasts of being tho mightiest and greatest nation in tho world , each pridos herself of being at the head of civilisation ; oach looks down upon tho other nations ns uiion inferior rnens . which nrn doatinod to
follow hor track . Tho unequalled glory of tho " Anglo-Saxon roco" haunts the English us much as that of " la grando nation" the French . In vain other nations contend that the present ago is not like tho hiatory of antiqujty , where only ono nation was tho loader and ruler of tho world . In vain they assort that the present civilisation ia divided amongst several nations , which boar an equal portion , though a different share in promoting tho progress of mankind . In vain they may declaim that ono nation excels in ono , tho othor in anothor branch of civilisation . No , either tho French or tho Anglo-Saxon must bo on tho top ; eacli is tho mightiest , tl > o wjaoat , the olovoroBt , tho bravest , tho moat civilised nation on ourtli . Wo do not entirely agree in tho oxactitudo or those reflections . \ Vo deny thorb is this amount of national vanity to be found among Englishmen ,
•Nto: 446, October 9,1858.] The Leader. ...
• NTo : 446 , October 9 , 1858 . ] THE LEADER . 1063
The Prussian Regency. The Crown Prince O...
THE PRUSSIAN REGENCY . The Crown Prince of Prussia still hesitates tc assume the sceptre . Loud and vehement discussions as to his right to do so are week after week prolonged—the sober-minded indulging in . no end of logical argumentation on the pointj and the more energetic giving way to fierce taunts and bitter personalities . No better proof of the truly anarchic state of things which the present interregnum has begotten can perhaps be found than in the unwonted licence tacitly accorded to the press . For years past the censorship has been exercised inexorably over all political journals in Prussia , and were the King in his senses , or were his brother actually on the throne , no such latitude as that now enjoyed by political writers of all descriptions would be suffered to exist for a day . In the all but total suspension , however , of royal authority , things are allowed to take their course , and the currents of opinion are permitted to ebb and flow as though there had never been a system of control based on right divine to order their wayward motions . The strangest part of * it . all is that the entire machinery of administrative absolutism remains standing and perfect , just as it was when the kingly pendulum stopped , it seems to need but a touch to set it going again ; but the touch has not yet been given , and the German metaphysicians cannot make up their minds about the point of spontaneous action . In other words . Prince William Henry demurs to the step of proclaiming himself Regent ; and Baron Manteuffel and his colleagues demur to enacting tlie farce of advising the maniac monarch to appoint' his brother Regent of to commit the fraud of ministerially countersigning a decree which their old master is incompetent to understand . Lord Thurloe and Mr . Pitt were troubled wit !) no such qualms in 17 S 9 . The circumstances were in many respects identical . George III . was as jealous of his heir as Frederick "William- ; and the
auuiomy on any . He has long been accustomed to look forward to i the succession to the crown by hereditary right . If he should not outlive his brother , lie has habitually learned to feel secure that his son would succeed to the throne by the same undebatable title . Now that he has unexpectedly been called onto ascend its steps in the physical lifetime of his mentally defunct brother , he finds it hard to ask leave of those whom he believes that he was born to govern . And this apparently is why he does not terminate all doubt and controversy by proclaiming himself Regent under the fifty-sixth section of the constitution , which declares " that , in case the king , for the time being , shall be a minor , or otherwise incapable , the nearest ag ? iate of the royal blood shall be Regent of his kingdom . Prince William Henry , as is well known , has steadily refused on all occasions tq conceal his disapproval of the constitution . Passively , he has indeed been forced to acknowledge it ; and it can hardly be supposed that he contemplates any . coup d ' etat for its peremptory suppression . Perhaps , like another Royal Highness , he would condescendingly affect to say that " representative institutions are upon their trial . " But while for peace or policy sake he may be induced to tolerate the experiment a little longer , he cannot brook the notion of assuming the sceptre of his ancestors by virtue of parliamentary law . Proud and inflexible , candid and wrong-headed , unambitious , but unyielding , he has been . content to spend his life in loyal and frugal retirement rather than trouble the councils of his country by thrusting . his , advice , or service upon them . And now , when those councils are paralysed , and' there is need of his presence and aid , he is as ready to-take the most responsible place , only it must be oh his own terms . It is difficult not to feel a certain sentiment of respect for the consistency and simplicity of character which marks the man , and it is impossible to deny that in 9 . private station he is just the sort of person whom his fellows would speak well of as a straightforward , independent , honourable member of society . But
mture constitutional sanction quite conceivable that the ¦ U pper House , whose predominant sympathies have hitherto been considered . Russian , and that possibly a majority of the Lower Chamber likewise , elected as it has been by a narrow constituency and under direct official interference , might refuse- to create a Regency such as he would or ought to undertake ; and if this be so , it explains what to us may seem at first sight so unaccountable at the present juncture . There are not wanting those , however , who assert , we fear with too much reason , that the Prince is at heart averse to the idea of resting his
English Queen was as obstinate and unmanageable as her Prussian Majesty . How long the iiiterregr Hum mi « ht have lasted here , Heaven only knows . The ordinary business of Government going on as usual , and every now and then the Keeper of the Great Seal coolly forging the royal sanction to great acts of State—for the public good or for Ihe benefit of his party—had it not been for the existence of that Parliamentary element in our . system of rule , which Mr . Carlvlc is thankful the Prussian monarchy during its uprise has never been troubled with , and which , no doubt , would havo been a serious hindrance to the robber heroism of Frederick the Great and his progenitors . After keeping the King secluded for some months , Mr . Pitt cunic down to Parliament with a Regency Bill , and with certain reservations proposed to vest the prerogatives of the Crowu in the heir apparent . Why , it may be asked , does not Mr , Mmiteujlel tnko a similar course and convoke the Prussian Chambers , suoh as they are , for the purpose P Tho answer is plain and obvious . What ever his own opinions on right divine or tho theory of monarchic succession nmy be , we mny be quite sure 1 . 1 mt his opinion re « rardimr the future aclininistratioli
unlortunately these are not the only qualities requisite in a sovereign , nay , they are quite consistent with the existence of others calculated to make his path one of peril , and his reign one of woe . The incapacity to comprehend the situation in which , he is politically placed , and the refusal to accept it , are faults more fatal in a king than a thousand meannesses and foibles . James II . was unquestionably a far more conscientious man than his corrupt and profligate brother ; yet Charles II . reigned merrily over England for threeand-twenty years , and to the day of his death could 'ramble about the parks with no other attendants than his favourites and his spaniels , while in little more than four years James contrived to enlist against him the Church and the army , the nobles and the mob , and found it no easy matter to escape out of the kingdom with his life ; so true it is that a man to be thoroughly mischievous in a political station must be thoroughly honest . We do not wish to utter auguries of ill regarding the future ruler of Prussia , but we owa that we regard his present equivocal conduct , and tho motives which , are believed to govern it , with grave misgivings .
of Prussia is that ; he should canlinuo Minister ; but ; of this he knows there is no chance unless in the present ; crisis ho bemls to Ihe humour of him who " shall bo King hereafter . " If tho Crown Prince desired to govern by a parliamentary title he would throw no obstacle in the way of such a convocation , unless , indued , from the exclusive and oligarchic composition of tho Chambers , wo fear that an attempt might successfully be made to mako him only co-llegent ; with the Queen—an offer which it would bo folly to expect him to accept . For years ho has consistently held aloof from tho councils of his brother , because in foreign poliey they were overborne by tho influence of Russia ; and of tlmt influence tho consort ; of Frederick William was tho indefatigable instrument and agent . It is therefore
Lord John Russell And-Loud Derby. Soatg ...
LORD JOHN RUSSELL AND-LOUD DERBY . Soatg of our contemporaries have lately occupied themselves in discussing the question , whether Lord Derby and Lord John Russell Imyo been putting their heads together in tho concoction of a now Relonu Bill . On the one hand , it is made tho subiect of bitter reproach to Lord John that he should liavo boon inquired of on such a subjeel , hy the head of the present . Government ; and slill moro so that ho should have ro $ [ K > uilucI in n lrank and friendly tone to such a coinmuiiienl . ioii , _ Ho ought 1 o have , like a staunch Ulug , rdusocl peremptorily tq pivo any aid or help to a lory Minister ; Vor , by doing so , ' » " losaons the dit-
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 9, 1858, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_09101858/page/15/
-