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Vn 470. March 26, 1859.] T H E L E A D E...
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SATURDAY, MARCH 2G, 1859.
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There is nothing; so revolutionary, beca...
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on the part of Whig leaders? can prevent...
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THE PROPOSED CONGRESS. At the instance o...
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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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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Vn 470. March 26, 1859.] T H E L E A D E...
Vn 470 . March 26 , 1859 . ] T H E L E A D EH . 401 - ¦ ¦ - ' ii - ^—¦¦———™ - ^ i ^ " — ^ ¦ ¦ ' ¦ ^ : : ¦ ! ¦ ' ' .. !~ ! ~ " ~ ¦ ~ ....
Ad01707
SUBSCBIPTIQK TO " THE LEADER . " ONE CUmEA PfR YEAR , UNSTAMPED , PREPAID . . ( Delivered Gratis ) . ifOTICKS TCrCOKRKSl'OXDEXTB . Xo notice c-m be taken of anonynioufl correspondence . ^ wiiatOTcr l " ii «««« l « fft >« - ins <>) tio » must be . i . tthenticatod bltK ue' and adrtrvss of the writer , no nei ^ anly fo r pubUcation , but an n-uavantee of his cpod iaitli . Tf iiininossible to acknowledge tl » e mass oi letters v . e 1 e-BXP t ! eir insertion is oflen delayed , owiiiff to a press . Tm-ittcr- and when omitted , it is frequently from rea-So ^ qu » e ' iudepeudentof the merits of the eommumca-Wc cnnnot wnd ' . Ttake to . return rejectod communications : A tiSTpSe alicl contents to Vol . 0 , Will shortly be presented A ^ iSmI ^ VTIIOWC FATIIEa AND HUSBAXIX-Will appear hi our next . ' ' OFFICE , NO * , CATHERINE-STREET , STRAND , W . C ., TJie commodious premises formerly occupied by the ? , Io : t ^ ixo Herald .
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Saturday, March 2g, 1859.
SATURDAY , MARCH 2 G , 1859 .
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fuMiit Sfttrs .
There Is Nothing; So Revolutionary, Beca...
There is nothing ; so revolutionary , because there is nothingso unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep thin ^' i * iixed ' whenall the -yroi-Ul is by tlie very law of its creation ia eternal progress . —Du .. Akxold . .. . -4 « . ' . ¦ ' .
On The Part Of Whig Leaders? Can Prevent...
on the part of Whig leaders ? can prevent our having a large and practical measure of Keform by the end of the present session-It will never do , however , to leave . the determination of what the actual terms arc to be to a dozen fine gentlemen on either side of the House . When the purely negative amendment of Lord John Ilussell is carried , Lord Derby will have to tell the Queen one of two things— either that she ought to dissolve Parliament , or that she ought to form , another administration . It is his undoubted rig ht , as a Constitutional ¦ Minister , to give her ivfajesty either counsel ; and it is e ([ ually certain
his mind that the only resource lef t to conservatism was to alarm the selfish , . fears of the middle classes throughout the country , he would never have rung the tocsin of the " Constitution in danger , " as hedid on Tuesday night . Instead of advancing tu meet popular -wishes , the crafty and ambitious oligarchs on both sides of the House have seemed only bent on strengthening their actual position , and consolidating their strength . for defence . Lord John Ilussell has missed a great opportunity of putting himself at the head of the popular party in tlie . nation ., by abstaining from saying , what he ¦ would do regarding the suiffragv . This inay be the way to office , but it is not the way to power . . .
ami clear , that , as a Constitutional Queen , her Majesty has no right to refuse either . If she had ' not a belief in Lord Derby ' s public and private loyalty , talent , and honour , she ought never to have confided to him the Treasurer ' s staff . For twelve months and more she has confided to him and his colleagues , with every appearance of unreserve , the safe keeping of the empire , and the conduct of our affairs . When flic'draft of the proposed Reform 13 ill was . submitted-to her for approval , no objection was made that it was too small : on the contrary ,
the Court , as is well known , do not even profess to care how small the change may be ; and every Phipps and Grey , in whose blankness i . s mirrored the looks of those that use hin ^ reveals how great is the anxiety , and how fervent the hopcj that the lieform Question may be dealt with and got rid of anyhow , without shortening the duration of Parliament , or the adoption of the ballot . But having once permitted the lull to be introduced , by Ministers who had undertaken to govern by iueaiis of a Parliament called by their . foes , as long as if-niight
be possible , and to whom no intimation was given , at starting , that whenever their rivals chose , they might turn them out without an appeal to the country , the Sovereign became in honour committed" to follow any lawful or legitimate course her present advisers might recommend ; and though there be many in Parliament , as , well as at Court , who , if they had their way , would never have Parliament dissolved at all , it were an ill day for the power and security of constitutionalism in England , if the Queen should be betrayed into refusing the Tory cabinet what is their incontestable riir'ht .
Why Ministers should , under present circumstances , wish for a dissolution is quite another affair . Supposing their most sanguine calculations realised , they can hardly hope to gain a majority
in : i new House of . Commons . So strongly , indeed , is this felt that more than one of them have avowed their unwillingness to having recourse to such an expedient . The names of Lord Salisbury and of General Peel arc freely mentioned as amongst those that lean this way ; and , what is still more important , the Premier himself is strongly suspected of being reluctant to ruiv the risk of a similar beating to that which he . received at the hustings in 1 852 . On the other hand , it is understood that the old gentlemen we have named have had" enough of party toil . and trouble , and want , above all ( hiugts to be allowed to retire to the pastimes of
which they arc fond , and to the care of the large possessions of which they are proud , The ambition , the pluck , and the youth of the party are of a different mind . They want an electoral fight , ns all true soldiers do , in the hope of distinction , and for sake of the chance of power . They say , and Avith . truth , that when they enlisted . under Lord Derby twelve months ago , they did so with the distinct understanding that they were not to hold oi'lico on .. Whig suUerance , and that unless they broke down ns an administration , » their chiof would keep fnith with them . No wonder , then , that in hib own Cabinet Lord Derby is in a
minority on that which is now the pressing question of the day . JTIta bill in as dead and done for as any still-born constitution of the Abbe Sioyc « . T !» o debate of the paxst week has not boon really maintained with' any jrcfereneo on either" si de to the flito of the measure , because from the outsot thin hnsbeon thoroughly known . Kvery clover speech has been addressed to tho constituent body , with a view to a place in tho next Parliament , and to tho possession of power or influence in that assembly . Had tho Whigs boon up to tho mark of popular demaiuln , Mr . 11 or sin an would never have lm / . imled his
chnnce of a f * uat in tho next Liberal cabinet by hirt brilliant philippic on his former colleagues , and hU bittor invootive against the Woodn , JCllices and Groys . And . had Sir JJuIwur Lytton not made up
present session ; but that ia all over now , and during the hist week the hundred tongues of St . Stephen ' s have been in full svving . We need not repeat our opinion of the Government bill for the reform of the repi'Cscntation . It has been now for n month before tho country , and nearly every man ' s mind is made up ns to its merits and defects . ' In thy progress of tho ( jueHtipn it is undoubtedly , a groat" Hlejx It scores off many Important items never admitted before as debits to the people , and so far it helps materially to hasten the long looked for settlement of tho national account . But settlement itself it is not , and is
THE KEFORM . DEBATE . Parliament , as its name denotes , was primarily invented for the purposes of conference between the estates of the realm' on matters of common concern . When money was wanted , an enemy near , or rogues at home were troublesome , the King was wont to call vipnii the great men of the country and the good men of the towns to meet him on a given- day , that they might talk over the matter and settle what should be done . Nobody had then heard of the fine phrases now in everybody ' s lips , about what is called " government by . public opinion- ; " "but , substantially , ' that was very much the notion our wise old ancestors hadjin their heads , though it was often hard work" keeping their kings and great men , up to the principle . Now-a-days , , indeed , we fare somewhat better , and otir hereditary rulers don ' t find it answer to neglect what is said in the conference halls of Westminster—especially hi ' the uugilded one . True to its traditions , Parliament seems to think that its chief function in that of indulging in a grand national talk . There was a little appearance of indolence or indecision at the beginning of the
hardly , indeed , nny longer' protended to be . It was perhaps the lurjreflt otter which the liberal men in the Cabinet could have got their eollenguus to sanction or their adherents to vote for ; and' if so , instead of taunting Mr . Disraeli , Lord Stanley , and Sir J . Pukington , with not having jumped out of the window throe months ngo , we ought to thank them for having remained where they wore , and thus obtained the concent of their Ministerial associates to opening tho door hal ( -way Now that it is ajar , it will bo the fault of others if it bo nrtt thrown open wide , We have got-10 / . fhinohino in counties and a wuoldy-lodger sullVago in town , t . ¦ .. » begin with in tVimung a hotter laeiiKura ; ud haying so much iu hand , nothing short of trouohery
The Proposed Congress. At The Instance O...
THE PROPOSED CONGRESS . At the instance of France , Russia has proposed a Congress , to be held in . some neutral city , on the affairs of Italy . Great Britain and Prussia have readilv assented ; but though- Lord Cowley was told at Vienna that Austria would not object , she naturally hesitates until the basis of deliberation shall have been very distinctly and definitely arranged . It is not to be expected that an old , a powerfuly and a haughty empire . will , readily agree to submit her pretensions in the -Peninsula to the judgment of her assembled rivals . Territorial sovereignty over the Milanese and "Venice will not , of course , be so much as questioned . ; and it isonly the Hghts claimed ' by her , under treaties , io interfere in the domestic-concerns . of' the minor Italian '
States that can . under any circumstances , become a . subject of discussion-. Count Buol affects a tone of intense moderation , and professes to regard the care which Austria has hitherto been called oil to exercise for the domestic tranquillity of the Peninsula as a costly burden which the Apostolic Empire would gladly be relieved from , a ' sdbodv , of course , is expected to believei such professions . We know , indeed , that it is not fbr the honour and glory of gaolership that Austria lias undertaken to play the part of bully and hangman'whenever called upon , and-sometimes when not called upon , in .-the States of Central Italy ; . Notoriously and avowedly it lias
been because she believed , and with good reason , that if free institutions were establis-ned on her southern as well as upon her western' frontier , her retention of L . ombardy would soon become impossible . When France ^ proposes , therefore , that she should burn her separate ¦ tronl'ies with j \ fodcna , Tuscanv , Parma , Rome , and Naples , and take no thought for the morrow , she proposes that which , if conceded , might afford Loui . s Napoleon n diplomatic pretext for withdrawing from Piedmontese designsbut whichas regards the future of Italy ,
, , would be utterly and totally fruitless . If the separate conventions were at an end tomorrow , and that revolutionary movements threatened the existence of any one of the ducal or royal despots whose safety they now formally assure , can anyone suppose that the Court of Vienna would therefore give ear to" their cry for military aid ? When somebody asked the French Ambassador the other day what his master promised himseft from a Congress , the outspoken victor of the MahiUhoft' is Raid to have explained that it would
enable him "to retire from his present attitude with honour . ' . ' Is he , then , already pruptu / ing to abandon the credulous ally , who but six weeks ago bartered t ' lio hand and the happiness of his inexperienced child for the military support of France , and who lias mortgaged deeply the resources of his country in making preparations for war ? What will Sardinia be the better for a Congress , supposing all that peace-making diplomats ivcomnieiKl should bo done ? How will the condition of the Milanese be improved ? How will tho importunities of a suffering nation be nioro easily at aid when their tone lnis become that of reproach Y 'V " ! , to become of all tho men of education , of ianuly , and of enterorisimr spirit , > vliom thu ( iovermmjnt
of Cavour hits collected iu Turin , mul fwi mm hopes of a movement-for national ddiwmnoox And wliat is to becomes of VoitHtUutionalism as the moderate alternative Io republican unity , after the long dreniu of n royal libewtorship shall have passed nwiy ? Or what in to become ol oonaUtij .-tionulimi iu Piedmont itself when its high pnest shall bo driven out with' it ami diHConmted irom tho councils of the King , to , « mko way fbr some plausible reactionist like Count Hovel ? On what has Victor Emmanuel to full back Y THo- perspective in , indeed , fur him anil his ryuhu . a gmvo and gloomy one .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 26, 1859, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_26031859/page/17/
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