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548 THE LEADER. [ff o. 475, April 30, 18...
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— ' — m ' The Premier.—-At the Lord Mayo...
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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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548 The Leader. [Ff O. 475, April 30, 18...
548 THE LEADER . [ ff o . 475 , April 30 , 1859 .
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' .. ' ¦ ¦ — : ?—r ¦ ' . '¦ ¦ '¦' POLITICAL FORESHADOWINGS .
— ' — M ' The Premier.—-At The Lord Mayo...
— ' — m ' The Premier . — -At the Lord Mayor ' s Easter banquet , the Earl of Derby , in returning thanks for the health of her Majesty ' s MinisterS i made one of his Usual eloquent speeches . He said— "My Lord Mayor , you have been kind enough to propose our health as the Ministers of the Grown ; and such , in truth , we are > though at this moment we are almost in the position of an ofiicer of her Majesty ' s army who is under arrest , and who hardly knows whether he will be permitted to wear his sword , until the verdict of that great court-martial , to which we are appealing , shall , I trust , restore it to us again , and tell us we may wear it with honour . " Referring to
the public anxiety as to what was going on abroad , the Earl said , ¦ ' ' ¦ ' The illustrious Commander-in-Chief and the Pirst Lord of the Admiralty , have referred to the anxious desire of this country to maintain for herself , and , if possible , for the world at large , the continued blessings of a general peace . To that end the labours and the anxieties of her Majesty ' s Government have been , and I will * even at this eleventh hour , say , still are , directed with the most intense solicitude . I would to God that I could assure you , my Lord , that at this moment I saw a fair and a reasonable prospect that the peace of the world wouid be permanently maintained . All I can say is thisthat I have not lost every spark of hope that
, the flame may still be prevented from breaking out , and all I can assure you is , that day by day , and night by night—indeed , almost hour by hour , our efforts are unceasing to avert , if it be yet possible , that dreadful scourge , a European war . " His lordship then ddverted to the mission of Lord Cowley to Vienna , arid the proposition of a general Congress by Russia to settle the questions in dispute between France and Austria . "On the part of England ( said the Earl ) we have endeavoured studiously to maintain the strictest and most absolute impartiality between the two parties . When we felt that Austria ¦ w-as putting an undue pressure upon Sardinia , we have resisted the preteri sions of Austria . When we which she
felt that Sardinia was making claims to ¦ was not entitled , we have refused to admit those claims of Sardinia , recollecting that they were both of them independent States , entitled to full considera--tion ^ Cordially , faithfully , and loyally we have been supported by Prussia throughout the whole of these negotiations . While she has studiously maintained the obligations wliich she owes to the Germanic Confederation , she has , on the other hand , mo s wisely and j udiciously abstained from placing herself in that position as a German partisan which should disqualify her from acting under these circumstances , in connexion with England , as an impartial mediator . Such has been the course which
• we have pursued , and I wish I could say the difficulties of obtaining a meeting of the great Powers upon satisfactory terms had been overcome by the efforts of this country . I am compelled to state that they have failed . One last effort which I announced our intention of making , we have made , to bring the contending parties to an understanding as to' the terms' on which they xnSght meet in congress . I regret to say that Austria'has rejected the offer of those terms , and almost simultaneously sent to Sardinia " a peremptory message demanding her immediate disarmament , under the threat of war , within the space of three days . In adopting that course Austria has taken upon herself—if , indeed , she still
acts upon her menace—that fearful responsibility which attaches to that country which first deserts the peaceful ways of diplomacy and subjects the question in dispute to the terrible . arbitrament of the sword . My Lord , we had not known for twelve hours the course which Austria had determined upon taking before we instructed our Minister , in the name of England , emphatically and formally to protest against the step of Austria . It may be that that protest has been unavailing } it may be that the horrors of war are already , or are about to be , to-morrow morning , invoked . I do not say that Austria had no cause for complaint . On the conthink that her
Bristol , Dublin , Belfast , Cork , and the metropolitan districts-T-we say we are unwillingthat each of these great populations should have only the same number of members as small towns of 4 , 000 and 5 , 000 inha bitants have . The speaker then referred to the dig graceful fact of manufacturers and landowners influencing the votes of their workmen and tenants If it were in the Southern States of America or in the island of Cuba , nothing would be more reasonable than if you wanted anything of the negro cultivators of the estate , to ask the master , the owner whether you might ask the negro cultivator to do anything you wished him to do . But when you are discussing a matter of politics in a free country that
you should ask the landed proprietor to give you permission to canvass his tenants indicates a state of submission which I say is frightful and degrading to our country . So far as regards popular representation , the great mass of your county representation is a sort of dead carcass tied on to the living body of your borough representation . When you get the 10 / . franchise for the counties , and the ballot to protect , the vote , then in all probability you will find that there are liberal opinions among the county constituencies . Referring to the critical state of affairs on the Continent , he
expressed himself in the following lively manner -.- * - " What are we to do ? Are we to have our minds distracted from the question of Parliamentary reform ? Are We to run away from this substantial chase to pursue the phantom of military glory ? Are we to insist upon a Government attending to our own affairs rather than meddling with the insane and sanguinary contest which is about to commence in . the south of Europe ? Don't suppose that because I found myself opposed to a large amount of public opinion-on the question of the Russian war - that because I was insulted and defamed—that
because every wretched scribe who earned his bread by writing newspaper articles , and whose conscience was not the guide of his conduct—that because every man of that class thought I . was a fit object of his jeers , and for his calumnies , and for his lies , for three years together—that because I suffered the loss , whatever that may be estimated at , of the representation of one of the first constituencies in the kingdom , I have ever regretted the position I then took . Let it be fairly understood that I am committed irrevocably , so " far as I have any influence , to the entire abstention of England from any meddling whatsoever . I can remain in the House of Commons
—I can do my duty with such energy and capacity as have been bestowed upon me ; or I can leave the House of Commons—I can return to . niy own doniestic . enjoyments , and to what were at one time my commercial and manufacturing pursuits ; but there is one thing I cannot do , and that is , to sit tamely by to see intriguing placeholders or intriguing placehunters gradually , bit by bit , by blunders here , by tricks there , by crime yonder , step , drift , slide , as it were , into the terrific abyss wliich yawns below us . the weatvalue the
efforts of Europe has failed ; but we have , at the last hour , and on this very day , despatched to Vienna and to Paris a joint representation , bffering to take up , on the part of England alone ,. the mediation at the point at which it was left by Lord Cowley , arid to endeavour to arrange the differences between the two great Powers in dispute , subject to one of these two conditions—either an immediate , absolute , and simultaneous disarmament of the three Powers , France , Austria , and Sardinia , or a consent on the part of all the three , pending the result of the mediation , to retain their armies precisely in their present condition , and to maintain a position , if not of peaceat all events of inaction . "
Pro-, ceeding to notice Lord John Russell ' s criticisms upon his speech at the close of the session , the Premier continued : — " That noble lord supposes me to have said that I thought it the duty of England to maintain a posture of armed neutrality , in order that we might take the part of whichever of the belligerents we believed was in the right ; and he adds that , from the manifest partiality which we have shown for Austria * there can be no doubt on Avhich side we are prepared shortly to draw the sword . Nothing could have been further from our view . What I did say was this—that we intended to maintain a strict neutrality ; but that , when a million or more of men were in arms—when war was not only
Imminent , but in actual existence—arid that , moreover , in Italy and upon the shores of * he Mediterranean , it was absolutely necessary for us , looking to the great interests we have involved there , looking to our great possessions arid the military positions we occupy in that quarter , that we should be in such a state as to maintain and defend the security of those possessions , and preserve the British flag from the possibility of insult . Our armed neutrality ought to be for the purpose of maintaining that position which we have held , and which , as long as possible , we are determined to holdnamely , that of perfect and entire neutrality , free from all engagements , fettered by no engagearid
ments and no promises , completely at liberty to use the influence—God forbid that I should have to add the arms—of England in such a manner and in such a cause as we might consider to be called for under the circumstances of the time , by the interests , the honour , and the dignity of our country . ( Cheers . ) Our anxious desire is to maintain peace for ourselves . But I go further ^ and say that , even if the sword should be drawn , if unhappily war should break out , England will maintain , a watchful and an observant attitude—observant , nol for the purpose of profiting by the weakness or the calamities of others , but for the purpose of discovering the slightest gleam of light that should break forth amid the gloom of war , and should disclose a reasonable probability of the dispersion of the clouds , and afford a ground or
opportunity for the interposition of pacific influence . Charged as I am with the fearful responsibility which attaches to a . minister of this great country in these anxious times , I am earnestly desirous that between me arid the British public there should be no secret as to the course which the Government have adopted , or the position in which they have stood—no secret as to the counsels by which they intend to be guided ; and I greatly mistake the character of my countrymen if , in pursuing a determined and at the same time peaceful policy , we shall not secure that amount of confidence and support which is essential to every minister , and the possession of which is the greatest and , highest reward for the anxieties and toils to wliich ho is exposed , ( Loud cheers . )
I value the blood , I value s , I comfort , the lives , the homes , the happiness of the people of this country . Never for one single moment , at the behest of power or at the call of popular frenzy and popular clamour , shall any man b ^ ablo to charge me with being accessory to a policy which should sacrifice the happiness of the common people on the altar of sanguinary war /'—At the nom natfon for Birmingham , on Thursday , Mr . Bright Lain snoke at irreat length . He said , "I have been in
for twenty , years constantly employed omnOTm with the politics of my country . Vov sixteen , years I have sat in the House . Com mons , and during that time there has been no charge brought against me of political inconsistency , of « nfll L thft . " £ ? Jd my trust , of self-seeking in any way , of bo > "S ™ at any time a hariger-on 6 f political parties . I lmvo had the high and gloriOua satisfaction of being one of those tlirough wliose instrumentality was Biuncd the great battle of free industry , by wW JJ proclaimed glad tidinga to all the sons of toil , not in fengland onfy , but throughout the word Oovorn ment is not securely based when it dp ? notWM «™« an m , mii of niiblio onin on and public Biiurage
The E . vr ; i , or Shaftesbuky . ;—This nobleman has also spoken on the European complication in the shape of a letter to a religious journal , intended , no doubt , to [ influence all whom it can influence in the present electoral struggle . Lord Shaftesbury is of opinion that the prayer of Englishmen should be presented in favour of Sardinia , and of course against Austria . Th ' o reason is because Austria is on the side of the Popo , and Sardinia on the side of religious . liberty . As to the question of justice , his lordship does not seom to suppose that it need bo entertained or suggested .
aT shall give porfccT security to freedom , m * » J wise and just eebnomy in nation * P on ( htu , ^ , G 8 : iy Government of England has fP ^^ £ 2 SS and notoriously squandered and wasted the ' earnings of the popple . If it had not been so , how could you Have , at the present moment , a national <^ bt ot 800 , 000 , 000 / ., an annual mtorontto v ^ r ,- ^^ pay for ever , of 28 , 000 , 000 / . or 80 , 00 y , oooI , ana an annual amount of taxation to raise approaciims 70 , 000 , 000 * . ? Are wo so difficult to gJorn F ^ wj wo require vast armies and vast nav » 0 S ^! m 0 U 8 " Yes" ; , countless police forces , and an onorroow expenditure for the purpose of maintaining ordor ^ J our own country ? Constituted as X /* now is , thero can bo no adequate security tor ^ nomy . Whatever bo the nwmborof Qloo ^ po w power should bo more oaual ^ difltributoa w » w b thorn by a fuiror distribution of Parliamo itary soft « Are you aware of the monstrous fliot , that to w )
Mr . IJmoHX . —At a meeting hold in the Town Hall , Birmingham , on Monday , Mr . Bright addressed the electors , and reviewed the position of the country with regard to the reform question . Ho referred to , what he called the dislocation of the Conservative party , and instanced Lord Stanley as a so-called Conservative holding far more advanced views than Lord John Russell . lie added—Wo are got now to times when men are reported to bo mealy-mouthed ; the strong English of our ancestors is to bo given up , and we aro to speak of great propositions with ' bated breath and whispering humbleness . We say wo will no longer sit down content with the stato of things whore one man in six only of the grown men in the United Kingdom has a vote . ( Cheers . ) Wo say— . we of the groat populations—Birmingham , Munohestor , Liverpool , Glasgow . Edinburgh , Leeds , Sheffield .
trary , I am bound to say I by aggressive and propagandist tone , Sardinia has deprived herself of a great deal of that moral support which the sympathy of England would give to the free institutione which 8 ho has so nobly maintained . But I do nay this , thAt there was nothing , in my judgment , to justify the hasty , the precipitate , and , because Wplving the horrors of war , thei criminal stop whioh fca / bo & A taken by Austria . ( Cheers . ) Whatever tW consequences of that step may bo . Austria has brought them upon herself . Within the last twolye JiQuru" we have attempted yet one last measure , In the ; hopo of averting the calamities of war . A no Congrosa haB failed . The possibility of tho unltoa
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 30, 1859, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_30041859/page/4/
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