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    A110P TirOlT AN AMHAS8ADOR , OK. BUT A WANDEItlNO voiokP

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    Untitled Article

    . Louis Napoleon , "by the grace of God , and the will of the Nation . " One might have expected some objection now-a-days even to the grace of God , inasmuch as the autocrat ought to be all-sufficient . He ought to be , for . example , Emperor of Austria by the grace of Francis Joseph ! It would be quite sufficient ; but , luckily for potentates , the grace of God can always be assumed by the aid of the church established according to law . There is no difficulty on that score : Francis Joseph is Emperor " by the grace of God , "

    witness his clergy . Xouis Napoleon is Emperor " by the grace of God , " all the clergy of France attesting ; and so on all round . But it is not always so easy to prove that you are Emperor by the will of the nation . Our Sovereign may adduce the fact historically ; Louis Napoleon has vamped up a kind of accommodation bill , which may serve as his guarantee ; but where can the Emperor of * Austria find the equivalent , or Russia ? They must address their people rather in such terms as these— " Francis Joseph ,

    Emperor , &c , by the grace of God , and in spite of your teeth . " There is therefore a serious practical inconvenience in recognising an Emperor who professes to sit by the will of the nation . Louis Napoleon might have pleaded that the will of the nation had little to do with the matter ; but then he has been indiscreet enough to talk about it . There are many things that we may do , but must not talk about , and amongst those ineffable things we may seduce a nation , if we can ; but in royal circles it is not decent to talk about those " bonnes fortunes . "

    Still , that might have been got over , although the will of the nation is an awkward thing to swallow for an autocrat ; but there were more serious things behind . If the potentates were fully to recognise this new Emperor , each must call him " Brother , " and at that they scruple . They can give him power over the French people ; they can support him against any number of millions ; they can use him as an instrument in suppressing the thought and will of mankind ;

    but inasmuch as he has not been engaged m these tasks for some generations , if not centuries , they scruple to call him " Brother . " If he asks , in the language of the negro , " Am I not a man and a brother ? " they will answer , "No ! You are a man , and an Emperor ; but you must continue at the work of grand gaoler for some centuries before we can recognise you as a brother . We must be ' both in the wrong , ' from father to son , for generations to come , before the fraternity can be cemented . "

    There was , indeed , a more serious difficulty yet . Louis Napoleon professes to be of that name number " III ., " and to this the Emperors cannot consent . He has conquered France ; he is an Emperor defacto , and lie can command an army of 400 , 000 , perhaps extended to three or four millions . lie is Napoleon , Emperor of the French , but not number " III . " That becomes serious . The difficulty is not lessened by the fact that England has recognised him , both as " Brother" and as number " III . " Lord Malmesbury , it seems from tho German accounts ,

    has advised Queen Victoria to call tho usurper of December 2 nd " my Brother ; " and Lord Derby , Conservative Minister , has recognised him as "III . " This last fact is taken as a serious pledge that England arrays herself on tho side of Franco against the North . The North feels bound to make a stand . It is felt that by the recognition of tho third cardinal number the very constitution of society is at stake ; and curiously enough , as Louis Napoleon saved society by deluging . Paris wilh blood at midnight , bo the

    Northern potentates Have society by refusing to recognise him as number 111 . To society itself , indeed , both these processes are equally mystical ; and Hiieh is the vulgar idea , that while we suppoHo there may bo Homo virtue in a midnight ablution in blood , we have much difficulty in underHtanding the Having claum \ in the refusal of number "III . " The rulers of the world , however , lay great stress upon the fact ; and as they what is wise

    do rule the world , an they determine and what in not wise , tin they arrange for tho larguHt portion of Europe- what Kuropo shall think , an they are cum privileqio at auctoritate tho judges of truth and falsehood , wo must pre-Hume that society , although it , does not know it , ha « reall y been saved by Umt solemn and mighty denial of number III . () , „• , l ( , (; ov < . rnrnent , \ l in said , more constitutionally disposed than Ivord Derby , will not adopt tho " Hi . " Though war

    should succeed , Napoleon is Emperor of the French only ; no longer ' brother , " and by no means number " III . " Society is saved .

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    THE " LEADER" IN THE DUBLIN MECHANICS' INSTITUTE . * A few days since , the Dublin Mechanics' Institute was the scene of a disgraceful but most characteristic outburst of bigotry ; disgraceful , let us hasten to add , not in the act itself , but in the shameless want of truthfulness which accompanied it . It appears that the library of this nourishing Institute contains , amid 7000 volumes of reputed safety , an exceedingly minute proportion of " dangerous" literature : among its scientific works there stands The Vestiges ( which , by

    the way , is on the same shelf with Miller s Footprints of the Creator , and his Old Red Sandstone , not to mention that every Magazine and Heview in the Library contains hostile criticisms of that " dangerous" work ); among its theological works , all orthodox , there is one black sheep , Francis Newman ' s History of the Hebrew Monarchy ; among its poets there are the odious names of Shelley and Byron ; among its Reviews and Newspapers of the " highest respectability , " there are the Westminster , the Weekly Dispatch , and the Leader . When we add the names

    of Voltaire , Dumas , Sue , &c , it will be seen at once that for short-sighted bigotry there was ample ground upon which to raise a protest . We have nothing to say to that . The intolerance which will not permit the exp ression of contrary opinions may be lamented , but it may also be respected as at least a sincere error . The Leader has shown , frequently enough , that it can be tolerant even of intolerance . In fact , we have more than once defended the Catholics on this point , and shown how their intolerance was justifiable . But there is one thing which we never will tolerate—there is one base ,

    cowardly vice that has the privilege of disturbing our calmness , and the vice is one , we regret to say , displayed more shamelessly in theological polemics than in any other arena—the vice of deliberate and calumnious lying . Mr . Hennessy , the orator on this occasion , might have gratified his active malignity and desire for notoriety ( a desire , if he could but know it , the fruition of which is the becoming a definite object of contempt , instead of the indefinite one he was before ) ,

    by taking his stand upon the broad principles of Catholicism , not to " hear the other side , " but as he thought fit to make up for his want of talent and sincerity by a cheap and artful stratagem , calling to aid the easy talent of lyin £ , wo will indulge his desire , and fix him in the pillory . We confine ourselves to our own case . Shelley , Byron , Voltaire , Dumas , the author of the Vestiges , Francis Newman , Henry Mayhew , and Mr . Reynolds , we leave untouched .

    Let us be distinctly understood . We arc not arguing the question whether the Leader , or any other publication , has a right to a p lace in tho Dublin Mechanics' Institute . It is for the Institute to settle its own affairs ; what we have hero to expose is , the miserable mendacity of tho spokesman of the opposing faction , as regards ourselves . " Tho Leader , " according to Mr . ITennesRy , " says the Holy Bible is a book filled with errors , and tells the mechanic that ho must choose between it and science , as both are incompatible . " True , the Leader does say so much ; and surely

    a sincere Catholic might have found therein sufficient ground of opposition , without following it up with misrepresentation and lying P Ho says we advocate " tho worst species of Communism ;" and that " between the sexes promiscuous intercourse is openly proclaimed . " Now of two things one : either Mr . Hennessy knows little of ( he Leader , and in that case we would ask him ( did wo believe in his integrity at all ) how he reconciles it to his conscience to attack a journal which he does not knowH or secondly , \ w does know the Leader , and in that case he must know that the Leader never did at any period , advocate any species of Communism ( consequently not the " worst

    species" ); it advocated the general principles of Association and Co-operation , declaring the time not ripe for special realization ; declaring every " species of Communism" hitherto elaborated to be both premature and imperfect . Moreover , respecting " promiscuous intercourse of the sexes , " that is a form of social degradation which the Leader has energetically and incessantly protested against ; so far as ^ e have touched that delicate point , it has been to lament the indifference of public opinion on . so serious and vital a

    matter , and to call attention to the desecration of our finest impulses , which the prevalent laxity causes . Every one who knows us will answer for us on this head . In the foregoing passages we have dealt only with misrepresentation , and knowing how frequent misrepresentation is , oftentimes quite unconscious , we should scarcely have noticed it , had not the deliberate falsehood which follows proved the misrepresentation to be systematic . Mr . Herinessy has the audacity to assert before the whole Institute— "In the- number laid on

    your table , last week , you will find one of the writers openly asserting that man is as the beasts that perish ; that there is no God to stay the storm , or hereafter to receive us to hen once this life is passed . " All our readers will share the astonishment with which we read this . It was not Mr . Hennessy ' 8 construction of a passage ; it was not what he might think our assertions " led to ; " it was the " open assertion" of one of our writers ! What will the reader say when we inform him that this " open assertion , " so far from being ours , is derived from a passage in the letter of a

    correspondent , calling our "views of immortality in question : a letter , be it observed , which was inserted with three others , attacking us on the orthodox side ( in the Jfutler controversy ) , and to which we appended a reply , as emphatic as we could make it , explaining our belief in immortality , and adducing one novel argument ! Thus , from the very letter we combat , an assertion is selected to pass for our opinion ! In the same square inch of paper where this " assertion" appears , ( in the shape of a query ,

    by the way , ) there appears our emphatic protest , and honest , honest Iago" selects the opinion we protest against , and tells the world it is our own . It is a re-enacting of the old farce , of saying the Bible proclaims " There is no God" ( omitting the context of " The fool hath said in his heart . " ) No excuse is possible ; the lie is deliberate ! Mr * Hennessy could not have seen the assertion , without seeing also tho reply ; but to damage an

    antagonist at tho expense of a little easy lying , was more than this honest creature could forego . To those who know us , the lie , of course , was harmless ; but to those who know us not , the effect may be imagined . How is it that those who bold in their hands the Book of Truth , should so constantly deem it unnecessary to be truthful in its defence P That is the " moral" of this scene in the Dublin Mechanics' Institute .

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    * On reading , in tho Nation , tho report of the proceedings in the Dublin Mechanics' Institute , wo immediately addressed a note < o tho Karl of C ' lirlinh ; , requeMliiif * to ho informed whether his lordship meant to include tho . Leader in the category of workH that incited Iiim censure . We have received from Lord Carlisle a reply in tho nogativo with the explanation that his ohscrvatiotiH wore founded on the general purport of the statement respecting " hooks and ongravingw , " aH ho had received it irom Mr . JleniiCBsy . —J £ x > . Leader .

    A110p Tirolt An Amhas8ador , Ok. But A Wandeitlno Voiokp

    A 110 P TirOlT AN AMHAS 8 ADOR , OK . BUT A WANDEItlNO voiokP

    " TirR excitement" at tho imprisonment of tho Morning Chronicle correspondent in Vienna , says the writer him-Helf , "has been increased by tho eircuinHtanc . es of tho outrage having been committed in the capital where a British ambassador reaides . " The description is technically correct , although , to tho uneducated eye , it appears inconsistent with the fact . Jt may bo nai < l that tho JHritish ambassador resides m Vienna , in Hj > ito of his constant absence : over tho rent of lCuropo lie travels .

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    Lovk and Ammtion . —All , liow different was tho writing of that hitter , to the writing of those onex ; treasured pages of my romance , which I had now abandoned , an it seemed , for over ! How slowly I worked ; how cautiously and diffidently I built up neiiterico after sentence , and doubtfully ho ! a atop hero , and laboriously rounded oft" a paragraph there , when J . toiled in tin ; service of ambition ! Now , when I hod given myself up to the service of love , how rapidly tho

    pen ran over the paper ; bow much more freely und smoothly the desires of the . hourt Mowed into words , than the thoughts of tho mind ! ( Join } H > sition wan an instinct now , an art no longer . I could write eloquently , ami yet write without , pausing for an expression or blotting a word It wuh the slow progreHH up the hill , in tho service of ambition ; it was tho Hwift ( too Hwift ) career down it , jn tho uervico of lovo l —~ CoiiLlHB ' H Basil

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    14 THE LEADER . [ SigtmsAV , * " ' " ' ¦ ¦ ' ' — ¦ ¦ — ' ¦¦ I . —1 MB I II I— - ¦¦¦ __ ________________ I ill II ' ¦ ¦¦¦ ' - " ¦¦¦ MIllH . HI . ¦ '" ' ¦ " * '¦ '" . ' . ' - ' — ... ¦ ¦ ¦¦

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 1, 1853, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1967/page/14/