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ferred from French to Boman custody , ^ nd released . Mr . Cass next challenged ^ he French officer ; but there could be no duel , because the French officer had already been placed under Now , why did that American Minister succeed where the British Minister failed so long , and then attained" a success more ignominious than failure itself ? Because , as Xossuth said , the American called out " stop , " with the intention of enforcing his demand if it were not heeded ; but it was heeded . .- ¦ . _ .
There is yet another contrast . A Dr . King has fallen into trouble with the Greek Government at Athens , and has been sentenced to imprisonment and banishment . The Government of the United States " has taken effectual measures to have the facts in relation to the treatment of Dr . King inquired into ; " and the Greek Government is receding before the attitude of America : the imprisonment has "been converted into a brief matter of form , —a friendly visit to the chief of the police , without seclusion ; and the banishment will probably be pretermitted . But that does not satisfy American , honour : the
Cumberland frigate is ordered into the Mediterranean , and is on the way thither . Will the great American Republic lose , even commercially , by these _ spirited vindications of its power and honour P Will England gain , even commercially , by truckling to Vienna , and bartering _ British honour for 222 Z . 4 s . P Perhaps it would be a wise course to take down the old flags in St . Paul ' s Cathedral , with other relics of our old glories elsewhere , and send them over to Washington for preservation hencer forward . Our enfranchised sons might value them ; and , at all events , they would be safe in the midst of those who still are what Englishmen have been .
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WHAT IS DISRAELI ? Mb . DisBAELi , Chancellor of the Exchequer , fighting man of the present Ministry , representative of every influence that can be brought to bear upon the Government of the country , unbosoming himself to the electors of Buckinghamshire , thus lays down the proposition before the people , to be solved by the next election : — " The country will have to decide whether it will maintain a Ministry formed on the principles of Conservative progress ; whether it will terminate for ever , by just and conciliatory measures , the misconceptions which have too long prevailed between producer and consumer , and extinguish the fatal jealousy that rankles between town and country ; whether our colonial empire shall be maintained and confirmed ; whether the material development of Ireland shall at length be secured ; whether such alterations as time and circumstances may appear to justify and require in the construction of the House of Commons shall be made in
that spirit of revolution which has arrested the civilization of Europe , or in the spirit of our popular , though not democratic , institutions ; whether the Church of England shall still remain a national Church ; whether the Crown of England shall still be a Protestant Crown /' Mr . Disraeli believes that " the county of Buckingham is not in doubt on these heads ;" and it is to be hoped that her Majesty's Ministers
will derive cvory inspiration from that sagacious county : porhaps after a visit of a few more dayu , inspired by the genius loci , ho might be able to issue a new address , not to the electors of the county for his reelection , but to the empire , as his warrant for staying in office , and promulgate in the new document the means which Buckingham may suggest for performing the task described bv himself .
That ho went down at Whitsuntide for instruction wo gather from his own statement respecting the measures which Ministers are accomplishing , and intend to accomplish before Parliament closes . They expect to carry three moasures—a measure of internal defence , the Now . Zealand constitution , and " a complete reform in tho Court of Chancery . " Tho last is tho best . Tho Militia Bill is not yot " popular , " and if not very expensive , is not yot ms enough to bo " efficient ; " it is , as Mr . Disraeli Jiimsolf has said , no more than a beginning . Tho Now < Kouland constitution Bill makes no great way in tho tank described abovo .
Ono great good , indeed , tho leading Minister has performed , in explicitly taking his stand side by side with Sir llobort Peel . As to tho expediency of Sir Robert Peel ' s measures he retains doubts : as to two—tho admission of glare-grown
sugar , and the repeal of the Corn Laws , he observes , that neither of them was originally contemplated by that Minister ; but , says Mr . Disraeli , with the candour belonging to a clear intellect— < f The time has gone by when the injuries which the great producing interests endure can be alleviated or removed by a recurrence to the laws which , previously to 1846 , protected them from such calamities . The spirit of the age tends to free intercourse , and no statesman can disregard with , impunity the genius of the epoch in which he lives . " _
There is another thing , therefore , that the leading Minister does not intend to do—he does not intend to reverse Sir Eobert Peel ' s policy . He proposes to offer a supplement to it , which he prefaces thus : — " Every principle of abstract justice and every consideration of high policy , counsel that the producer should . be treated as fairly as the consumer , and intimate that when the native producer is thrown into unrestricted competition with , external rivals , it is the duty of the Legislature in every way to diminish , certainly not to increase , the cost of production . " It is the intention of Her Majesty ' s Ministers to recommend to Parliament , as soon as it is in their power , measures which may efieet this end . "
How , or where , are to be found the means '' to effect this end , " the Minister does not explain ; he only hints at " one of the soundest means by which this result maybe accomplished , " namely , " a revision of our taxation . Under favour of " the times , " which he considers "favourable , " and of" powerful agencies" which have " altered the complexion of the fiscal world , " " the possibility , ' he thinks , ?* of greatly relieving the and
burdens of the community by adjustment reduction , seems to loom in the future . " " Nothing however can be effected by any Ministry , unless they are supported by a powerful majority in Parliament ; " so that if the electors , on-the next appeal to the country , supply Ministers with a powerful majority , they will endeavour to reduce the cost of production ; one of the soundest means of doing which " seems to loom in the future /' This is the onl y distinct pledge as to that future which we collect from Mr . Disraeli ' s present
address . We are at a loss to discover where the foreshadowing of the ulterior manifesto can lurk among the paragraphs of the present . A revision of taxation cannot oe all that " seems to loom in the future , " nor all that is descried by a statesman who scans the horizon of unacted history with systematic science . The grand reconciliation which he contemplates between Conservatism
and Progress , between producer and consumer , town and country , England and Ireland , aristocracy and popular freedom , national Church and religious concord , may be possible ; but it seems to loom in the future onl y to social reformers adhering to doctrines which wo will not obtrusively associate with Mr . Disraeli ' s name . He evidently sees the magnitude of the work to bo done , and lie talks about the possibility of performing it as if he were a .
But we must not let our sympathies hurry too fast towards an avowal . Even if Diaraeli is to be the Constantino of this age , he must take his own time . Time indeed presses ; for we have arrived at a strange juncture in our history . The ground has not boon more rotten under tho unseasonable rains of Juno than it is under tho feet of the practical politician . Free trade and Protection have both come to an end ; thoroughly enjoyed , men find that absolute frpedom in more exchango is not absolute prosperity ; but they have also discovered that a systematic chock to production is not the way to " let live . " Protection is left behind , Free trade cannot go any farther ; and tohat beyond ?
is tho question . Wo are without a doctrine , except only that known to tho cocononiical sect whoso namo courtesy forbids us from prematurely associating with Mr . Disraeli's . He is an historical philosopher , and he knows , as well aa wo do , how our aristocracy is worn out , effete , lost to jnfiuenco with tho people , in danger of tumbling , draggling in the mud , and lying , a wretched rag , liko a forgotten banner in tho roar of a hurried army . JNa one values " tho families" any more-—oven tho horalds are giving their " achievements" to any Snopks or Briggs that wants tho traditionary symbols of illustrious exploits " found'' for him , Tho middle class , sitting without a faith or a will for any national or decisive purpoao , has Jittlo dictatorial power ; insomuch
that IiOr 4 John Manners caii senii the favourite summer-house of its " arts and commerce ' - to— - Svdenham . The working class of the towns is discontented , unattached , and , alas ! as a body though there are " splendid exceptions , " without any generous faith or patriotic devotion . The peasantry , " the bold peasantry , its country ' s pride , " has become the weary laughmg-stoek of easy wit . For the next Future , we are without
doctrine , faith , or spirit , —without measures or men , — -without agreement or will . Mr . Disraeli indeed is a keen-sighted politician , an eager scientific philosopher , an ambitious patriot , an Alcibiades capable of wishing to be a Constantine - and he speaks with hope , with confidence , with evident purpose . Therefore he at least has a spirit , a faith , a doctrine . How can we explain the enigma ? Surely he must be ; a - —— ¦ But let us not culpably tear open the disclosures sacred to time .
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MALMESBURY'S NAPOLEONIC IDEA : rBENCH FBO JET DE LOI DETECTED IS THE HOUSE OrB ItOBDS . To : . Lord Aberdeen we owe it that the first move was made to tear the mask from the measure which Lord Malmesbury endeavoured to pass in an English House of Peers , under cover of a plea which few will deny , that civilized countries near together must have some provision for the mutual surrender of gross offenders against the ordinary laws . A . long-standing desire to that effect has been impeded through a series of years by practical difficulties , which have altogether prevented its consummation ; but Lord Malmesbury , over-riding the obstructions that have hindered men more experienced and more trusted , has promptly arrived at a convention with France . The tact would in itself excite suspicion amongst the English people ; but when the public learns the character ot the measure which has been unmasked by Lord Aberdeen and his Peers , suspicion will be converted into indignation . j ; ^ The Earl of Malmesbury invited the House of Lords to sanction a Parliamentary bill for giving legal effect to his new convention ; and it was in the debate on Tuesday evening , that the
scope and tendency of that measure came put . In previous conventions with France , three offences have been named , —murder , forgery , and fraudulent bankruptcy—as recognised causes for the reciprocal extradition of offenders ; but , such have been the practical difficulties in reconciling the administration of French law to the English sense of personal liberty and individual justice , that the performance of that convention in this country has been virtually a dead letter . the
In the new convention , however , legal power for which was to be embodied in the new bill , the provisions , as Lord Aberdeen says , might apply not to three , but to twenty different •' crimes ; " and " ho ( Jid not feel certain that , under the offences named in the bill others also nught not be included which were not named . " bucn . is the power which a Malmesbury , in convention with the government of a Louis Napoleon , asks tno English Parliament to sanction ! Lord
It appears , also , from the speech ot . amwdeen , that tho bill is not prospective only , oni that it reaches , back some eight or nine years ; for what object , wo presume the French ruler only can tell . The Lord Chancellor admitted this rctrospectivo effect , but ay erred that " it coujcl oniy take place with respect to offences includod m informer troaty , and not to tho whole oHhoso enumorated in tho present convention . il 0 " distinction /»«
not , howover , explain how this w bo enforced ; and a remark by Lord J 3 rougi » ™ involves in suspicion even tho enumeration or i old treaty with tho now faco put upon it . vi " a now administration of the convention , the 101 c » of fraudulent bankruptcy would leave a urfa margin , within which a number of persons m ^ 1 ) 0 improperly and unjustifiably arrested . „ the spirit of tHp now ' convention to tho wum tho old treaty , and Englishmen may " * ° " difficulty in (© recalculating tho consequences tho combination . ,,. h iv i , j ( , h Tho vory apologies for tho scheme w » Ui v ii ^ Parliament ih anrprisod , stamp it with now ,,:,.: ai uu il . ; u , w » w liil . nreflom ^ u
Purliumout by Lord Malmesbury , wo mU ? % lfl < i tho bill recently carried by Louis Napoleoni n v ^ " Legislative corpse , " wlioro , as Lord JJruxp , Bays , "ho always has ' a working m ^ ^ , in tho proportion of something l > k « /* V par . Under tho now bill carried by tho Fronts
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§ 62 THE I / E AQER . £ ^
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 12, 1852, page 562, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1939/page/14/
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