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of the attitude the first niht f the ses...
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NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. BOTAi- ACADEM...
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——- "»-w^-' SATURDAY, MAY 30, 1857.
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There is nothing so revolutionary, becau...
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LIBERAL BOLTERS IN THE HOUSE. The Libera...
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LIBERAL BOLTERS IN THE HOUSE
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.
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Of The Attitude The First Niht F The Ses...
H ay 30 , 1857 . J THE LEADER , 517 IL- ^^ B ^^^ M ^^^^^^*^^^*^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ¦¦
Notices To Correspondents. Botai- Academ...
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS . BOTAi- ACADEMT- —Our third notice is unavoidably post-T ? IeatuM- -An obvious misprint disfigured one of the opon-• JZ * sentences of our article on the ' Ballot Argument , ' ™& ^ fiek For ' Four years aS o Sir Robert Peel , ' & c ., read ^ lome years ago Sir Robert Peel , ' & o .
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——- "»-W^-' Saturday, May 30, 1857.
—— - " » -w ^ - ' SATURDAY , MAY 30 , 1857 .
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| folilic % Mxx .
There Is Nothing So Revolutionary, Becau...
There is nothing so revolutionary , because thereis nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed when all the world is by thevery law of its creation in eternal progress . —Dk . Aenold .
Liberal Bolters In The House. The Libera...
LIBERAL BOLTERS IN THE HOUSE . The Liberal party has no acknowledged chief . 3 Xr . Roebuck frequently volunteers to act as standard-bearer ; but the independent members of the House of Commons have discovered , not once or twice only , that he is capable of deliberately misleading and aban ^ doning them . We think vre have always done justice to his public character ; but the truth must be told . He capitulated to Lord Palmerston on the first night of the session , and last week he surrendered the opposition to the Princess KoYAi- ' s pension and dowry . In both instances his conduct was entirely unauthorized by his political friends . We doubt even whether it was not offensive to his own parliamentary colleague , the second representative of Sheffield . Was it weakness , or was it insincerit } r ? Was Mr . Roebuck cowed by the bluster of the Government , or had he too , with Mr . Disraeli ,
made a compact with a very important personage ? We dislike the necessity of raising so much as a doubt concerning the fidelity of a very forward patriot , yet there was something remarkable in the sequence of the proceedings on the evening of Friday week . Before the Chancellor of the Exchequer rose in his place , and on the motion that the House do resolve itself into a committee , Mr . Roebuck addressed himself to the
Speaker , and neither Lord Palmeuston nor Sir Cornewall Lewis attempted to interrupt him . So far as we can learn , indeed , no surprise was manifested on the ministerial bench . But wo can inform the honourable gentleman in what quarter there Was astonishment , not unmixed with disgust , when an officious gentleman exposed the plans of his party before a word had been uLtered by a member of the Cabinet . The blank cartridge
was fired against a dead wall , and Lord Pal-Mebston , getting upon hi * legs , hopod the discussion would not bo anticipated . Why , it had been anticipated , ami an uncomfortable apprehension began to bo circulated that cutlery was not the only false ware bought and sold at Sheffield . This suspicion gained ground when , upon the termination of the ludicrous spouch of Sir Cornewall Lewis—a speech which a dexterous reply would have blown to
shivers—Mr . Roisuuoic wan instantly again in the breach , making a theatrical use of his hands in front , but kicking down his supporters behind him . From this moinonfc there was a more burlesque of u Parliamentary disousaion . Lord John Russell simpered as though he were a courtier in a braided coat upon his knoqs before Queen JSHAVixbetu : Mr . iDiaitAExr , still bilious' after the farmers' ordinary at Nowport Pugnell ,. waa serenely stupid in his enunciation of obsequious platitudes . The only men in the Hoiue
who seriously attacked the pension job of the Princess Royal , were Mr . William Coningiiasi and Mr . William Williams ; but there were others ready to curry on the debate , when , rushing hot from the lobbies , poured in the tide of representative wisdom , the white-waistcoated members who never listen to exposition or reply , but who vote away any sum proposed by the Treasurymillions or myriads—and swamp the conscientious economy of the hard-working , independent Liberals . The drones of Parliament had clustered toa . - I " 1 . • • 1 f * 1 1 '
gether thick as the humming-bees that hunt the golden dew , to pay out of the national property for the affability of the Queen Bee , for tickets to state balls , for possible baronetcies , and other good things in the gift of our Walpoles and Pelhams , when suddenly there was a loud burst of applause . Mr . Roebuck was seen to sit down with a countenance reflecting the benign smiles of Mr . Speaker , of Lord Palmerston , and of aHouse resounding with cheers . Some one on the distant cross benches asked for intelligence from the Ministerial empyrean . What
had occasioned this singing of the spheres ? Why did one honourable member for Sheffield smirk and another frown ? Why did Mr . Roebuck seem , as Lord JSTorth once seemed , accoi'ding to Burke , as though his face were the face of an angel ? The answer vi-as : — Mr . RoEBUCKhas withdrawn his amendment ; the question has been put and carried ; the dowry has been granted ; the pension has been granted ; Mr . Roebuck has consulted nobody ; the opportunity has been lost , and the popular representatives have not acted up to their duties .
Now we do not affirm that Mr . Roebuck actually bargained away the opposition to the Princess Royal ' s pension , but this we say , it was the second occasion on which he had Jed the Liberal party into a hole . What right has he to put himself forward as the leader of a debate and proposer of an amendment if he has not the firmness and constancy to maintain his opinions—if they are his opinions—or to be true to his party ? The vote was carried by consent , but the feeling of the House was far from unanimous . Had
a distinct sum been proposed as a dowrysay a hundred thousand pounds sterling—excluding altogether tho principle of a pension , there were numerous members in the House who dared not have voted against" it . There were others who would certainly have gono all lengths to gain palace favour , but who , when Mr . Roebuck as usual hung out his white flag , boasted that they would have opposed tho Government had a division takon place . Among the
independent members , Mr . Coning ham was resolved to test the sentiments of the House when the question was again brought forward . On Monday evening he and hia friends successively propose . I a reduction of the pension and a refusal of tho dowry . Fourteen members voted for the first amendment , eighteen for tho second . Tho names of those gentlemen will bo remembered by the country .
But other gentlemen will ho signalized as tho bolters . They ran away and hid . Mr . Roi <> jj ircic was one of them . ' AVhat do the people of Sheffield think of their sharp-tongued CiOEito ? Can they trust him again with tho management of a Liberal opposition ? We are afraid that Mr . Roebuck will come to be regarded as a Government buffer , intended to broak the force of any collision between Lord Palmeiiston and tho deluded Liberals ,
especially since there are unpltmsaht insinuations afloat with respect ; to his conduct of the Sobastopol Inquiry . We should indeed bo glad to see him cleared of thai ; impeachment ; it might also be possible to extenuate his
abject attitude on the first night of the session , but nothing can excuse his recalcitration on Friday night , and we do not ' see how it can be explained except on the supposition of a questionable understanding between the patriot and the Premier . Analyzing the list of the minority whose persistance excited the indignation of that Piccadilly politician in lemon gloves , Lord Robert Cecil , we regret to miss some names that should surelv have been there . * . 1 . 1 . 1 * i . T _ _ _ _ ' J _ I _ _ -f * J _ 1 1 _ X . . « . & . i-l * . a j * . ** i- « M v n . m
How happens it that the liberalism of Sir De Lacy Evans is so much more unflinching than that of Sir John Villiers Shelley ? Upon what principle was Sir Joseph Paxton absent ? Where was Sir Charles Napier , and where Mr . Locke ? Could not Mr . Akro yd find it in his heart-to protest against the Royal pension ? Where was Manchester ? Manchester has no seat in the Now Parliament ; but we need not brand separately the ruck of the bolters . Miinv
would probably have voted with the Liberals on Friday who considered it too late to net in opposition on Monday . Mr . Coningiiame ' s motion was not so much an economical manoeuvre , as an effort to rescue the Liberal party from the false position into which they had been thrown . by Mr . Roebuck ' s indiscreet professions of confidence on the first night of the session , and by his sacrifice of honesty to the representatives of Buckingham Palace . Unless the Liberals
act upon their own responsibility , unless they move in acoinpact phalanx , and separate themselves by their votes , not only from the Tories , but from the overwhelming majority to which Lord Palmerston dictates , they will never form a party , and their policy will have no effect on the legislation of the empire . ' There are numerous mysteries of administration which a section of determined Liberals acting together might lay
bare to the light of public opinion . Upon what statistics are the estimates founded ? Who prepares them for the Chancellor of the Exchequer ? Who audits and reports upon the actual expenditure of the year ? Of what terrestrial value are the auditors at Somerset House ? These and a hundred similar questions remain unanswered , but the sincere Liberals arc deterred from pushing them home , because they cannot trust their friends . Here is Mr . Roupell
betraying a disposition to bolt from the ballot , as he , and others who resemble him , bolted from the opposition to tho Prussian pension . The only straight course we can discern amid this confusion of timidity , of bad faith , and broken pledges , is a resolve on the part of the publicspirited Liberals to force every debate to its legitimate issue , and let the division list stigmatize the desorters .
Liberal Bolters In The House
THE PRISONS OF THE POPE . The position of tho Italian patriots in prison is somewhat different from that which the world has ever ween . Perhaps there have been cases as horrible , although they are low . Ono prisoner under tho charge of tho pious King of Naples , Piuonti , has beou a cripple for four years , having been deprived of tho use of hia limbs by the dampness ol tho prisons , and ho moves about on crutches ;
from the same cause Sciiiavoni has entirely lost the use of one eye and is in danger ol losing the other . Tho boatings of tho sLick are attended by the most horrible physical consequences 5 the endurance itself bointf 11 very small part of the danger . This is Ilic manner iu which tho pious King treats tlio John Russwll , tho Roeijuok , and John Trkla-WNY of Naples . Mr . ahWeoxu wrote a pamphlet about ib , addressed to Lord Aberdeen ; Mr . Glaustonjs and Lord
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 30, 1857, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_30051857/page/13/
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