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866 THE LEADEK [Ko. 487. Ji^y 23, 185 9-
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might give rise to a repetition of the s...
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OFFICERS AND GENTLEMEN". Eybrx one has t...
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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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Imperial Excuses. The Two Great Despots ...
alone to face the events which were being prepared for , and which every ' day ' would have rendered more grave . " It is something to find a real live Kaiser condescending to be thankful to journals of any kind , as it affords an indication that Captain Pen is gradually defeating Captain Sword ; but we have now to do with the reasons . alleged by the Austrian potentate for agreeing to the separation of one of the wealthiest provinces of Ms empire . In the passage just quoted there is an -urimistakeable Assertion that the Germans would not . fight for his Italian cause , and that they determined to leave him alone " to face events which were being prepared . "
own calculations , but as those which the French Emperor made the foundation of his Hungarian alliance . If he had acted in good faith lie would not have allowed Kossuth to believe , even af ter tlie armistice , that his plans were unchanged . _ It is clear he used Kossutk and the Hungarians simply to carry on his negotiations writh Francis Joseph . We will admit that he could not tell whether the latter would agree to cede Lombardy , but he offered terms which he could not expect would be refused . After making such a peace , it was appropriate that the Imperial baby should offer the laurel crown , for any one old enough to know what he was doing ought to have been ashamed of the task . Napoleon TTT . has failed . We know it—France knows it—and
hence the alarm which dictates the continued seizure of English newspapers , which mi g ht proclaim too loudly another fact , that the failure was the well-deserved consequence of working with a crooked mind . If France should prove discontented the blame will be thrown upon Germany or upon England , and a new war invoked to redress the grievances created by the old . Italy has yet to be settled . Tuscany protests against the treason by which she is to be handed back to her masters ; and , in Turin , portraits of Orsini have replaced those of Louis Napoleon . We cannot imagine that Ratazzi will consent that Sardinia shall
enter into a confederation that wbuld subordinate her to Austria and the Pope , for , if we mistake not , he took part in the Siccardi Laws , and is no less a friend of Italy than an enemy of the Concordat party , to which Francis Joseph belongs . Pio Nono himself may prove intractable , and see what a burlesque exhibition it would be to make St . Peter ' s successor " Honorary President , " or dishonourable puppet , of a Confederation managedin Paris and Vienna . Notwithstanding Mr . Disraeli ' s fears , we have confidence that Lord John Russell will avoid entangling this country in schemes that can come to no good , and which are
based upon the vicious principle that nations are to be disposed of at a conclave of despots without their own consent . It is impossible to avoid the belief that fresh complications are in store j for Europe , and Mr . Gladstone ' s budget will remind the nation , that although not actually at war , we cannot properly , be said to be at peace . An irresponsible despotism in France means war taxation ior England . Army , militia , and navy will cost 26 , 000 , 000 / . for the current year , and thoughtful politicians fail to see the time when by diminishing the burdens of the people we can enjoy one of the principal advantages of a substantial peace , as distinguished from a condition of armed neutrality .
Of course , the complaint refers more especially to Prussia , without whose concurrence the smaller Princes of the Confederation , however Austrian in their tendencies , could not move ; and it is satisfactory to find the chief German power acting in conformity with the advice and opinions expressed in Lord John Russell ' s despatch . The " events which were being prepared" would appear to mean the projected invasion of Hungary , -which not belonging to the Confederation , would not have necessitated its interference . It is important to have the testimony of one of the chief parties concerned to the non-existence of any danger to France ,
provided Louis Napoleon kept his word and sought only the objects which he avowed . It is also satisfactory to learn that , so far from Prussia intending to fight for the slavery of the Italians , she would have proposed terms more favourable to their interests than their professed patron has obtained . The Austrian Emperor tells us no less when he says— "I have acquired , the co " nviction that I should obtain , in any event , conditions less unfavourable in coming to a direct understanding with the Emperor of the French ; without the blending of any third party whatsoever , than in causing to participate in the negotiations the three great powers which have taken no part in the
struggle . " That is to say , neither Russia , Prussia , nor Great Britain—no longer under the Torieswould have sacrificed Italy as Louis Napoleon has done . We know , on the other hand , that there are rumours current of an understanding between the Prussians and the Orleanists , and that King Leopold , instead of mindin » his own business , and looking exclusively to the safety of his own . people , has been busily exercising his . talents for intrigue ; but , with Lord John Russell for our Foreign Secretary , the balance of probability seems to be that the expectations of Francis Joseph would have proved correct , and that he would have been lef t " all alone . "
When we turn to the speech made by the Emperor of the French to the great bodies of state , in reply to their adulatory addresses , we find his excuse for not keeping faith with the Italians was the danger to be expected from Germany . He says , alluding to v exoiia , " It was necessary to crush boldly the obstacles opposed by neutral territories , and then to accept a conflict on the Rhine as well as on the Adige . It was necessary to fortify ourselves openly with the concurrence of revolution . " Long before the war began this very question of how to deal with Verona without entering the Tyrol , or any other portion of
the Confederation was amply discussed , and it was thefoundation of the offers mado ^ to Kossuth , and of the conditional alliance between Louis Napoleon and the Hungarian leader , Every one knew that to besiege Verona in front , and do nothing elso , wxmld ^ be simply to repeat the folly committed at Sevastopol , and that Austria , under such circumstances , ought to be able to prolong the resistance in a similar way . It was to guard against this that Hungary was to bo Invaded py a liberating force ; Feschierft would have fallen in a few days , and in a few weeks Austria might have boon confined to her thrpe remaining fortresses , with the disadvantage of having Mantua
completely isolated . All supplies tor the army defending Verona and the valley of the Adigo must then hjive been brought from a distance , at great expense , while the loss of Hungary following live loss of Italy *—fortresses exoepted—would have fceen a tremendous blow , both financially , and as regards means of obtaining fresh troops , Austria would have been deprived of more than half her population by theBe measures , and , moreover , it ¦ was not impossible that an enemy , having the comsaaad of Lake ( Jarda , might manage to occupy a portion , of the Valley of the Adige behind Verona , Without passing the boundary line that separates w tvom the Tyrol , We do not give these as our
866 The Leadek [Ko. 487. Ji^Y 23, 185 9-
866 THE LEADEK [ Ko . 487 . Ji ^ y 23 , 185 9-
Might Give Rise To A Repetition Of The S...
might give rise to a repetition of the same dangerous conduct . •¦ -. With reference to this matter , the official tribe seem very perfect in the science of " how not to do it , " and they have recently got up a scene of flogging and riot in Keyham steam-yanl , Plymouth , which will produce sentiments of disgust and indignation wherever working men congregate and read narratives of the scandalous event . It appears that a seaman belonging to the Caesar ¦ was sentenced to be flogged for insubordination , and the time chosen for the exhibition was seven
o ' clock in the morning , when the artisans are " rung in . " Accordingly , about 400 of the yard-men were presentwhen the culpritwas stripped and lashed to a grating so placed as to afford the best view of the sanguinary ceremony . The civilians were disgusted at the punishment being administered in their presence , and still more at finding that the prosecutor at the court-niartiaL the boatswain of tlie Caesar , was to be the chief executioner and commence the scene . "It was with intense excitement , " says a paragraph in the Morning Star , " that they saw him throw down his hat , pull off his jacketmoisten his hands , and clear the tails of the
, cat with his fingers . " The stripes were inflicted amidst hisses , groans , and exclamations of disgust from tlie artisans , and some Turks in an adjacent skip . Towards the close of the entertainment a conflict took place between the ship ' s officers and tlie workmen ; formidable adzes were opposed to tlie bayonets of the marines , and the affair terminated in some arrests and dismissals . " For aught we know , the man may have deserved a punishment fully as severe as the flogging administered ; but the authorities committed a serious moral offence in ordering its infliction to take place in the presence of civilians , whose humanity had not been
degraded and whose tastes had not been corvxipted down to the official level . Making a public exhibition of this kind certainly excites terror , amon g other sensations . But terror of what ? 'Clearly of joining a service in which such brutality forms an element . Degrading and disgusting punishments are contrary to the spirit of our age and civilisation , and we repeat , that if—which we do not admit—there be men who require them , they arc unfit for a sphere of life to which honour and dignity should be attached . There is a kind of ungentle gentlefolk who cannot imagine that the working classes possess any
sense of decency or refinement , and fancy they ought to be treated like some inferior order of animals . These are of course advocates of the lash , while others appear to defend it rather from regard to the incapacity of the officers than to the inferiority of the men . It is well known that punishments are most frequent in those ships or regiments which are worst commanded , and we have no doubt that the abolition of flogging would render it necessary to demand higher qualifications on the part of those invested with power . In this , as in other cases ,-reform must come from without , and in spite of old admirals and wooden " boards , " who feels
THE " CAT" AT KEYHAM . Those who administer our naval affairs seem _ determined to maintain one great characteristic of barbarous times—a flagrant opposition of interests between the rulers and the xn * led . They scare good men from the service by making it hateful , and then demand the perpetuation of barbarous punishments upon the pretence that they afford the only meanB of maintaining discip line among the low class of mortals they manage to entice . Under the impressment system ships of -war deserved their appellation of " floating hells , " and sailors were watched and- guarded , like malefactors in a
jail , to prevent their eecape . Voluntary « enlistment , and a diminution of the brutality of the Georgian era , have effected great improvements in the . service , but the . Admiralty cannot divest itself of the old-fashioned idea that " serving the Queen and the country " is a thraldom that no one would endure except under the . influence of terrorism and force , in the management of criminals flogging is no longer believed in as a curative dispensation ; and if there be individuals who cannot be made to work or preserve order without such a stimulant , they should he rejeoted as unfit for the of ational defence ¦
honourable occupation n . Those who know the feelings of the working classes can entertain no doubt that navy flogging is regarded fry them with great repugnance , and is one of the causes of the diflioulty experienced in manning our wooden walls , We Bhould suffer a tx'emondous calamity in a contest with any adventurous naval power if another fleet were sent to sea in the disgraceful condition in which Sir James Graham dispatched our ships to the Baltio during the Russian war ? and yet , unless the navy is made more popular , a sudden demand for large forces
the change must be made , and any officer - incompetent to govern upon a humane system should be permitted to retire . By becoming more scientific war requires superior agents , and it will be impossible to obtain mon . competent to manage breech-loading riflos and Armstrong guns who will submit to the risk of suffering a punishment by which they will be marked and degraded for life . If " arms of precision , " ns our neighbours call them , are placed in the hands of coarse , ignorant persons , they cannot bo employed with advantage ; and men capable of becoming skilled carpenters or on / rincers will wot enter a service on conditions
painfully inferior to thoso of manufacturing life . The old . bull-dog ferocity is no match for modem skill , and skill is nocessarily associated with personal pride . Should we bo involved in a naval war , it will bo on a gigantic scale , and of short duration . There will bo no time for the old plan of making blunders first and repairing them afterwards , and when it- is too late it xnay ho found that preserving the " cat" is preparing a catastrophe . The Admiralty should remember that ovory newspaper which influences tlxo working classes incites them to avoid the navy until this stigma is removed .
Officers And Gentlemen". Eybrx One Has T...
OFFICERS AND GENTLEMEN " . Eybrx one has their ideal . From boyhood upwards ours has been that of a military officer . Often t ^ mos , with humble admiration , wo have
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 23, 1859, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_23071859/page/14/
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