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Leader (1850-1860), 13th November 1858, Edition 2 of 2, Page 17, The articles on the Royal Family of Prus...

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      Le A R M At And This Is The Substance ^^...

      ^^^ o ^ 13 , 1858 . 1 TM , LE A-tfB-R . * M 5

      In Consequence Of The Great Importance A...

      In consequence of the great importance and the erowinff interest attached to the subject ot REFORM IN THE REPRESENTATION , we this day present to our readers A Sebles of Original Articles , entitled , " FACTS , THOUGHTS , AND SUGGESTIONS ON THE COMING REFORM BILL , " BY A PRACTICAL LEGISLATOR . To be continued weekly .

      The Articles On The Royal Family Of Prus...

      The articles on the Royal Family of Prussia having been much approved of , No . 1 of a New Series , entitled , " BIOGRAPHIES OF THE GERMAN PRINCES , " by the same able and well-informed writer , is commenced this day , and will be continued weekly .

      Notices To Correspondents. No Notice Can...

      NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS . No notice can "be taken of anonymous correspondence . Whatever is intended for insertion must be authenticated bv the name and address of the writer ; not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of his good faitb .. It is- impossible to acknowledge the mass of letters we receive . Their insertion is often delayed , owing to a press of matter ; and when omitted , it is frequently from reasons quite independent of the merits of the communication . We cannot undertake to return rejected , communications .

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      \ ' \ ^ / ¦ W. Satubday, November 13, 18...

      \ ' \ ^ / ¦ w . SATUBDAY , NOVEMBER 13 , 1858 .

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      There Is Nothing So'revolutionary, Becau...

      There is nothing so ' revolutionary , because there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed ' when all the world is by the very law of its creation in eternal progress . —Dk . Aunold .

      Prosecution Of M. Montalembert. Througho...

      PROSECUTION OF M . MONTALEMBERT . Throughout every circle of educated society in France the approaching trial of M . Montalenibert is awaited with mingled emotions of curiosity , solicitude , and misgiving . Where moral and political stagnation is prescribed by law , a novelty like that which the Procurcur Imperial lias inconsiderately promisod fills the languid and the idle with the unwonted hope of an intense sensation . The mind of France has been reduced under the existing regime to a condition of low fever , in which the patient is a <; once singularly ill-fitted to undergo a

      violent shock , and is yet » morbidly anxious to sustain one . Any tiling , however intrinsicall y painful , is looked forward to with craving , which will break , though but momentarily , the spoil of that torturing ennui with which those are aillictcd who , having oneo enjoyed the brisk air of freedom , now inhale only the oppressive atmosphere of national imprisonment . With far different feelings is the approaching trial awaited by tho j . mriy proud hearts that during tho last sovon years havo . mourned in silence tho poUtioal prostration of their country . Royalists andllepublicans , earnest Catholics and philosophic thinkers , friends of constitutionalism , and followers of Louis Blanc , have this ono tie of common

      sympathy , iu that they aro all alike disfranchised of the privilege they valued most—that of uttering their sincere convictions . Hitliorto , however , the ties of this sympathy have been comparatively slack , becauso despotism forbore in general to modulo with opinions thaft wero not addressed to tho musses , aud that did not ostensibly lend to resistance , in some aotivo form , to its authority . Tho differences of roligious and politioal faith kopl , these fellowsufforors from tyranny apart , and indisposed , them , in the bitterness of thoir dospuir , to acqept tho solacp of ono another ' s pity . JBut tho madness of uubridled power is likoly to subdue at luat past roson . tmen . ts and futuro fours . Tho iusuuo allom . pt

      to crush all liberty of thought , whether in the form of historic controversy or refined sarcasm , which the proceedings against Montalembert disclose , is calculated , more than anything else which could have been imagined , to establish a tacit truce between the scattered elements of disaffection , anc to bind them together by a bond more powerful than that of secret oaths for mutual defence against their common foe . To the selfish and time-serving , who have profited by the present order of things , and who look to further gains from its continuance , this new attempt to stretch authority is equally unwelcome . Their speculative games require above aU things that the table should be steady , and their sordid instincts bid them look with disgust and dismay at

      any wanton trifling with that condition . 1 hey deprecated as earnestly as any patriot could do the violence and folly displayed by the Imperial Government at the beginning of the present year , in consequence of her serious crime . But they consoled themselves w ith the conviction that the abortive effort to bully England into an alien bill , and the more easy enactment of ex post facto law proscription in France , were but ebullitions of personal anger and fear ,

      and that when these impulses subsided , the waters of absolutism would resume their former channels . The present case is far more suggestive to their minds of misgiving and alarm . Nobody pretends to believe that Comte de Montalembert is in anysense a revolutionist or a conspirator . The whole history of his life and opinions gives the lie to suck an imputation . A royalist by birth and a Catholic by education ; a friend of well-ordered liberty , but still more a worshipper of authority and order ; so little infected with any fanaticism for the Bourbons that he actually accepted the post of senator after the . coup d ' etat , and so little averse to the

      fundamental item of the foreign policy of the empire that the very article for which he is about to be arraigned is , in the main , a eulogy on the English alliance "; so little of a schismatic that he cites with admiration the acts and writings of Pius IX ., aud more than one bishop of the Catholic Church ; and so little of a leveller that it was he who most vehemently called from the tribune of the National Assembly for some interposition which should save society from what he then deemed its imminent t incarnation of

      danger-: —such is the man , he very enlightened and independent conservatism iu France , whom Louis Napoleon seeks to hunt down under the provisions of laws enacted professedly against plotters , anarchists , and assassins . What is this but to poison at its fountain the very life-blood of law ? What is this but to mine suicidally the strongest buttresses of authority ? What is this but to declare that instead of Bonapartism being content with predominance above all other things French , nothing that is French shall be hencoforth tolerated in France save that which is

      Bonapartist ? It were waste of tiine and space to dwell seriatim on the witty and eloquent passages which have been made the staple of accusation against this stainless , accomplished , and noble-minded man . He retains his preference for the limited liberties of the Restoration and the Orlcanist rdgimc , and in two or three sarcastic sentences he ventures to say so . lie regrets the absence of constitutional discussion , and tho suspension of publicity in affairs of state ; and his regret is intimated in a few lines of sardonic irony , the full point of which would have remained impalpable to ninety-nine out of ono

      hundred readers , had not the mental microscopes of all France been llxed upon it by the lunatic proceedings of tho Government . He recounts iu generous and grateful terms the consideration shown , by England for tho royalty , tho noblesse , and tho priesthood of France in the days _ of exile and misfortune , and ho rebukes tho fanatical blindness and injustice of thoso cxolusivo pretenders to sanctity who aro never weary of reviling tho religion and tho government of this country . Ho proudly

      repudiates , iu tho name of Catholicity , the envy haired , malice , and nil uneharitableness which rojoiccs in tho calamities of Indian revolt and denies to us the peaceful glory of successful colonisation . And while lie reiterates liis objections to certain portions of our adiuiiu ' st rut ive policy , and to tile greater part of our diplomacy ns conducted by Lords Palmoi - stou and Clarendon , lie frankly owns that there is nothing 1 iu its records comparable iu point of immorality to tho destruction of tho Republio of Venice , or tho ambuscade , and kidnapping of tho Spanish

      royal family at Bayonne ; and this is the substance and sum of his o & ending . These are the opinions for whose utterance in an article published in a fortnightly magazine , and obviously neither meant nor calculated for general reading ,, one of the most highly-gifted , influential , and distinguished men . in France is to be placed at the bar of a criminal court , there to answer on a charge of constructive treason . It is in vain that the conscience-stricken minions of Government pretend that the

      proceedings against M . Montalembert will not subject him to the penalties of the recently enacted laws . We have reason to know that , having taken the best legal advice on the subject , he is convinced of the contrary , and that if he be unjustly convicted , he is fully aware that it will be impossible for him to live in France . Fine and imprisonment are , perhaps , not contemplated by his persecutors , unless it be in the hope that the threat of their infliction may more effectually ensure his exile from a land within whose confines the existence of such a man is believed to be a peril and felt to be a reproach .

      Retrenchment And Reform. The Great End T...

      RETRENCHMENT AND REFORM . The great end to be obtained by Parliamentary Reform is good government , and the chief element in good government is cheapness . ^ Government , in fact , signifies restraint and coercion , carried into effect by the power of taxation . To increase it is to increase restrictions and increase taxation . Cheap government is , consequently , good government . It is the diminution of restraint , coercion , and taxation . We need reform to obtain cheap government , and if , like the reform of 1852 , as perverted by the Whigs , further reform should increase the expenditure of government and increase taxation , it would be an evil rather than a good . In some quarters there is a disposition to speak favourably of reform , and with ridicule of retrenchment , On this account we place these two words on bur banner , and profess to seek Parliamentary Reform , in order , for one thing , to lessen public expenditure and reduce taxation .

      As a reason for ridiculing demands for retrenchment , it is alleged that we have multiplied and more populous colonies , extended relations with all the world , a mercantile marine at least double what it was , and our army and navy have twice as much work to do as twenty years ago . The more the indispensable duties of the government ore multiplied—such as maintaining friendly relations with all the powers of the world , and keeping in readiness a large army and navy—the less of the national ! resources should the Government apply to objects uot strictly within the line of its duty . God knows , ay , and the nation knows , that Government performs its duty very imperfectly ; that our means of defence are not adequate ; that the ' army and navy , UCICUUC U 1 C J 1 UV nuwlJUlll'l ? umu \ iii . \ j uiiujr " ¦"" *» i » t .,

      , though large beyond precedent , are not really efficient ; that all its civil departments are conducted with skill and knowledge disgracefully inferior to the manner in whioh private business is conducted ; and Government should not spend more money , but spend less more judiciously . Day by day we have watched the proceedings of tho commission to inquire into contracts , & c , and with the single exception of the gun factory department , under Major Wilmott , the Commissioners hayc found nothing to praise . Day after day more and more examples have come to light , of storespurchased at extravagant rates , of useless thingsbought or ordered , and resold at a great loss , and of a continual combination of waste aud

      inefficiency . The opponents of economy falsely attribute to it tho faults of tho executive . For tea years prior to 1852 , the sum expended on tho army , ordnance , and navy , was never less than 18 , 901 , 245 / . ; and tho average expenditure for tho period was upwards of 16 , 000 , 000 / . por annum . In 1853 , the expenditure on theso services was 10 , 325 , 075 / ,, yet when tho war with llussia began , two essentials for every army—a

      well-instructed staff and a . commissariat , though at most only costing a few thousand pounds—wcro wanting . They wcro nominally in existence , but absolutely and hopolossly inefficient . Tho expanse of an enormous staff and of a long roll or commissaries was continually iuourrod ; but when required for sorvioo our troops perished by thousands Ironi the inefficiency of tho stuff aud tho ooimmssnrinfc . Tho votes of money for tho army by 1 ar-Unnient through tho whole ? ponod woro ample , but the money was grievously misapplied , ic was . wasted .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 13, 1858, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_13111858/page/17/