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Janttaby SI, 1857.] THE LEAD E R. 109
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THE EVE OF THE SESSION. There has been a...
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OUR OPERATIONS IN ASIA. The British oper...
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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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The English At Brussels. Nothing More Un...
repentance , and established an awkward < s 6 lidaritS y with , the very eccentricities it professed to repudiate . It is not until they are excluded by the exquisitely ludicrous resentment of the Belgian aristocracy ( whatever that may be ) from the Bal Noble , that the English bestir themselves to make the amende " honorable . They then feel that an apology is due to the insulted equestrian order to which the Prince
de IjIgne belongs . How do they proceed ? With the aid of Jeames , Grarter King of Plush , they form a committee of what , in New York , would be called the creme de la crime of Anglo-Belgians . The cream is skimmed , and that unctuous oracle , the ' address , ' is carried with silver-salver solemnity to the injured and offended Prince de Ijigkne . The deputation , in point of fact , implored the Prince not to believe that Sir Robert
Peel was the type of an Englishman ; not to think that " Anglicans" of all parties were accustomed to such " ebullitions of low breeding ; " not to blame them for an act of which only Tie had been guilty . The Prince de IiIgne seemed only partially to understand them . He knew , however , that , while they were repudiating Sir Hobebt Peel , they were only anxious not to be repudiated by the stewards of the-BaZ Noble .
Now really , whatever we may think of the wisdom or the dignity of this proceeding on the part of our countrymen , this was , at all events , giving the Prince de Ligne an opportunity for a beau mouvement . But he , if we may judge by his reply , as we find it reported , appears to have mistaken , or at least to have wilfully missed , the advantage of his position . We are tempted to suppose that the I ? rince permitted a sudden impulse of
reckless generosity to get the better of his amourpropre . For if his words have any signification at all , they simply confirm , in a great measure , the accuracy ( we say nothing of the discretion ) of Sir Kobebt Peel ' s description . The gentleman who declined to exchange amenities with a cabman , said , " Now , I ' m not going to bandy abuse with you , but I tell you you ' re a —— . " The Prince de Ligne ' s allusion to Sir Robert Peel
is really neither more nor less than " ' another . " Yet how dignified was the attitude he might have assumed , how telling the reply he might have made to the English deputation ! " Thanking them , with a pardonable tinge of sarcasm , for their spontaneous act of humiliation , and apologizing for the silly self-assumption of the Bal Noble , he might well have suggested that such language as Sir It . Peel was reported ( he had hoped incorrectly ) to have
used at Adderley , could not of course reach him , any more than it could affect the general reputation of English statesmen mid gentlemen : from his deep respect for England , his only regret had been that a man bearing a name so honoured , not only in England , but throughout the civilized world , should have ( if , he must repeat , the report was correct ) descended to such strange and inexplicable improprieties , not to say indecenciea of language , aa might be tolerated among hired lampooners and venal farceurs , but were
inconceivable from the lips of a man bearing a commission from Ins Sovereign , and repre - senting not only the majesty and the wealth , but the intelligence , the social refinement of England . He was willing to believe that Sir II . Peel had been the first to regret the utterance , or , at all events , tho publication of ill-considered and unwarrantable indiscretions , dropped very likely in one of those momenta of forgetfulncsa which all young men are liable to occasionally , and perhaps , too , from a mistaken confusion of popular merriment with public approbation . But ho
must frankly assure the deputation , with all respect , that although the report of this strange language had reached his ears , it had excited scarcely a momentary indignationhe had been willing to forget it , or rather to ignore it ; and while he thanked them very sincerely and respectfully for their good feeling and good intentions , he could not help regretting that they had deemed it necessary to revive unfortunate words , and to draw attention to a scandal which had already been talked of too much . "
Now , we ask our readers , in England and in Belgium , whether the Prince de Ligke , of whom we desire to say nothing inconsistent with due respect , would not more prudently have replied in some such manner as this , than in the words attributed to him ? What did he actually say ? He retorted that Sir Robebt Peel was a " sot , a gamin , and
an . underbred , good-for-nothing fellow . " Is not this , we repeat , a mere circumlocution , neither happy nor elegant , for " You ' another ? " Is it not mere vulgar abuse ? Has not the Prince j > e I / egne helped Sir Uobert Peel out of the kennel , by plunging into it himself ? Auy street-boy in the Strand , any costermonger in Tottenhamcourt-road , could have * called names'
well as the Prince de Ligne . As to the pertinacity with which our young Tory contemporary ( which , in the opinion of its own party , would itself be more influential if it were less scurrilous ) has appropriated this miserable altercation , it is easily explained . The living baronet is assailed because the dead baronet was superior to his party . It is not the follies of the son , but the virtues of the father , that Mr . Disbajeli ' s organ can neither forget nor forgive .
Janttaby Si, 1857.] The Lead E R. 109
Janttaby SI , 1857 . ] THE LEAD E R . 109
The Eve Of The Session. There Has Been A...
THE EVE OF THE SESSION . There has been a complaint that Xord Palmeeston lias acted the dictator . Well , Parliament meets in three days ; whose fault will it be if he continue dictator then ? We had a dictator in 1834—the Duke of Wellington . 1 ' or a fortnight , while Sir Hobebt Peel was coming from Kome , the Duke took upon himself the business of the empire
lie laughed , exactly iu Lord Palmerston ' s way , when solemn people talked of the Constitution , and held eight offices for fourteen days . Meetings were held , strong resolutions were passed , orators spoke of the ' dangerous precedent ; ' ILord Campbell , at Edinburgh , even hinted at an impeachment , Meanwhile the Constitution glided into deep water again , when Sir Bobert Peel ' s carriage came down Whitehall .
On the 3 rd of February we shall be once more in deep water . Ministers , no doubt , will be prepared with their course of action —we do not say " policy ; " the Tories , of course , will oppose them , on public grounds ; but what will the Liberals do ? Pile the table with petitions against the Income-tax . But after that tax baa been regulated , some serious questions remain yet for consideration . We havo to ask Lord Palmerston
what havo l ) een the results of his intervention in Naples ? what has been his action in the Swiss dispute p how our foreign accounts stand ? what reforms ho proposes to introduce ? Wo have to hear ' explanations ' about Sir Hobeet Peel . Wo should be glad to hear a question from Lord John IIussell as to whether he may proceed with his ' Bill ;' but such questions are usually asked and answered in private
Of course , tho object of the G-overnmcnt is to get through tho session . The object of tho Opposition is , not to allow the Government to get through tho Bession . "What nhould he tho object of tho independent Liberals ? To press forward tho real
business of Parliament . They hold the balance of parties ; if united , their action is in the long run irresistible . There are , then , extensive arrears from last year to be worked off the paper ; many vaguely-worded propositions to be fixed in statute form ; long-condemned anomalies to be expunged ; commercial laws to be revised . But we hold it to be the duty of the Liberals in the House of Commons to
recal Parliament to the consideration of political reform . That subject must be revived with energy before the next general election * It ; - has grown in importance year by year . The opportunity may now present itself for debating the whole question in a dignified and decisive style . It is very improbable that any Continental war will , during the year 1857 , distract the attention of the country . Nor is it to he feared that our Eastern
embarrassments will be of so serious a nature as to become engrossing topics at home . We will say no more at present on the legislative programme of the year . The events of the coming week will serve as indications of what may he expected from this fifth session of Lord Derby ' s Parliament
Our Operations In Asia. The British Oper...
OUR OPERATIONS IN ASIA . The British operations now in progress at different points of the Asiatic continent , appear to be radically misunderstood in certain quarters . Ifc is asserted that the Persian expedition is a buccaneering attack upon the independence of a feeble state ; and that the bombardment of Canton was unprovoked and aggressive . Now , we have declared war against the Shall of Persia , in pursuance of a distinct treaty which binds us to prevent the wresting of Herat from the independent government of the Affghans . We have gone through all
the usual processes of diplomacy at unusual length ; and , while we have negotiated , the Persians have been breaching the walls of the town placed by solemn convention under our guarantee . What is it that the advocates of peace , under all circumstances , desire to establish as a precedent of Eastern policy ? That Persia , if she so willed , should seize Herat , and that Dost Mohammed , when he claimed the fulfilment of our contract , should be presented with the Pipe of Peace ? That , from Herat , she should advance , assisted by Hussia , to the heights that overlook India ? That we should retire within the Indus ? That
we should never resist a demand , or enforce a claim ? This , it will bo perceived , is the line taken by those publicists and speakers who declaim" against the Persian war . Their arguments are deprived of all weight by the fact , patent to every reader , that they never accept an English reason for an English act ,
and never find cause for blame in the conduct of a foreign power opposed to England . Let us hear , to-morrow , from any part of the world , that English guns or cutlasses have been brought into action , under whatever circumstances , and we are certain to hear " violence , " " precipitation , " " wanton outrage , " imputed to our authorities .
hi China , the case in favour of the English is not less clear than in Persia . It may answer a particular purpose to quibble over the registration papers of the lorcha ; but ; the truth is , that the conduct of tlio Chinese officials had become unendurable , and that they seized the crew on board that vessel , in defiance of tho English flag , of the master ' s
protest , and of tho treaty . If Chinese sailors on board a Hong-ICong vessel are to be subject to tho brutalities of the native police , Singapore vessels can no longer claim protection . Arc the assailants of our policy aware that Chinese vessels from Singapore hear certificates , hut that , whether provided with certificates or not , the British Government
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 31, 1857, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_31011857/page/13/
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