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helped to found any durable Political Institution ; she can only crown that which time has consolidated . " This epigrammatic d « M *|^ J 8 ^ p lauded ( in the Moniteur ) by the surroiffitting JjSnators afttt deputies ; the theory of Louis mpoleon is mounted on the imperial throne ; jite sees and hears nothing immediately encircling » $ m > but his own creatures , the instruments of Wffcaprice ; and > no doubt , the idea in his mind is , that he has the key to the portal by which the world is to recede
from the present to the past ; and that he is opening for it a future , shaped according to his wisdom and pleasure . There are , however , other powers in the world besides Louis Napoleon . In the meanwhile , according to our own information , his Star is waning ; even his Empress , with all her winning graces and fascinations , is of so little account , amidst the sullen discontent , that even the polite Parisian populace eyes her with the most frigid and negative curiosity in the streets .
The application of the French Government , through Secretary Lord John Russell , for the surrender of the will and codicils left by the first Napoleon , is an historical curiosity rather than an event of any present importance . The scruple of the English Court , in declining to give the will to the French Government , " on grounds of public policy , " will amuse rather than irritate our neighbours , since they get the will on the ground that " Napoleon Bonaparte" was a " domiciled Frenchman" at the time of his death , and that the French legal authorities are the proper custodians of the document .
Mr . Kinnaird ' s effort on behalf of the Madiai seems to have failed for the moment ; but we are not sure that it has been in vain . He asked the House of Commons to invoke a special appeal from Queen Victoria ; and Lord John Russell asked him to leave it in the hands of Ministers , to which Mr . Kinnaird agreed . But he stated an important fact , when he pointed to the intercession offered by the King of Prussia , the King of Holland , and the United States . If they were to
join in a combined protestation , it would be an event of the greatest importance . It is to be remembered that the Madiai are not the only Protestants in Tuscany , and that the Tuscan Protestants , so called , are not , by multitudes , the only anti-Papal sect in Italy . Italy , properly so called , as well as Hungary , would combine with England , Holland , and the United States , i&
vindicate Protestant freedom , —a league which Sweden and Switzerland might well join if they would assure even their political existence ; besides other states and peoples that would join any league of freedom . If there were only the will to institute such a league , * it might control absolutism and revolution , and supersede the " war of principles , " and dictate the terms of the peace of Europe .
The Milan outbreak is not a failure , but it was a mistake . The explanation is no secret . The state of Italy is one of chronic revolution , ais the Government of Austria is one of chronic conquest . Italy is in a state of siege in which the conquered side is kept down , not governed . Of course there is no difficulty in exciting a people thus placed , to turn against its rulers , but , where the people is broken up , and the oppressor uses an enormous army , with a great contingent of Spies , it is difficult to organize a simultaneous movement , and to hold back different parts of the country , until it
can all move together . Italy appeared npc for a movement , and was anxious to make it . Was the time really opportune ? That was the question for the chief leaders . The time was not opportune , because divers local indiscretions had permitted the Austrians to learn too much about the matter . The order was that the patriot forces should remain passive . In Milan , however , several persons had already gone so far , that they did not like to retract ; and they risked the broader interests of their party , in their impatience to hafcurd a movement ; but , luckily , it waa possible to limit the premature fire to the place where "it broke .
Radetzky threat *^ punisWeht , not only to the rebels , but to ttife innocent . It is the crime of iftte oppresjtei pfeople that tfo&e should exjirt aj&bngst tfeem toen who resent oppression ; btitj though Milan suffers , the Italian revolution iS igot slaked yet . l * he position of ft&urs in 3 tdjaten ) 6 gro has taken 6 curious turn $ pausing at tlte determined remonstrances of Austria , Turkey is understood to desist from her assault on the people of Montenegro : in
other words , she not only establishes the status quo at the dictate of Austria , but , in doing so , admits that Montenegro is independent of Constantinople . This is a perilous example for the other Pansclavonian communities , over whom Turkey exercises so precarious an authority . The week has been copious in disasters and accidents , arising from the unusual extremities of the weather . Meteorologists note a degree of cold unusual at this season : the thermometer has been
down to 24 degrees Fahrenheit , and parhelia have been observed on more than one day . Diseases arising from cold have been very fatal in the metropolis , and ' of course in the rest of the country ; and some soldiers , passing across Dartmoor under orders , have perished in the snow and cold . But the worst disaster has been the loss of the Queen Victoria , on the coast of Ireland , on which she was wrecked in a snow-storm that blinded all eyes on board . The disaster was compensated in some
degree in the usual way by the opportunity which it afforded for the display of the most gallant and disinterested conduct ; but perhaps the mortality might have been diminished if one who perished had possessed greater firmness and power # f command . Amongst the incidents of bravery , one of the most striking , is the conduct of a boy who accompanied a boat rowed by two men only , to and fro , in saving passengers , and persevered in stopping the open plug-hole of the boat with his fingers .
Let us join with our enthusiastic Orange contemporary , the Standard , in protesting against the discontinuance of the fog-bell on this rock . In a aea like the Irish channel , so stormy , so often visited by mists , and traversed by such great numbers of loaded passenger-boats , it is vitally necessary that the warnings which are established on the most dangerous and frequented parts should appeal to the sense of hearing as well as sight . Had it been so in this instance , there is little doubt that the sound of the bell would have warned the ship off the rocks in time , and had the ship ' s boats been to hand , and serviceable , numbers of human beings might yet have been saved . Perhaps their fate will purchase safety for those who come after them . It is melancholy to trace repeated disasters to causes which incessant warnings have been found powerless to prevent .
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THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT . TnEitis were three proceedings on Monday night in reference to Jjouis Napoleon , his doings and lug intentions . One in the Houbc of Lords and two in the House of Commons . A singular alliance in inquiry took pluco between Lord Clanricardo and Mr . Disrneli , who both seem to have been scandalised by the patriotic sentences spoken by Sir Charles Wood , at Halifax . First , let us take Mr . Disraeli , who spoke as follows : With respect to tlio question of which I gave notice on Friday , and which I winh to address to tho . President of tho Board of Control , who , I nm sorry to learn , is unablo to bo in his place , I have to state , that if it bo more convenient for tho Government , and if it should beconsidorod moro fair , I should montion generally the subject of tho relations existing between her Majesty ' s Government and tho French Government , and give an opportunity for more « xtended explanation ; but it in according to what may ho tho wisli of the Government that I shall shape my
course . Lord . 7 . RvdHKhX ,. —My right honourable friend tho I resident of tho Hoard of Control is not able to attend from indisposition , but , uh tho right honourable gentleman opposite has given notice of his question , 1 think ho had bettor proceed with it at present . Mr . DiBRAKi-r . —It is only nocossary for mo to call tho attention of the Uouso to tho paragraph alleged to have been delivered in a speech at Halifax by tho right honourable gentleman the President of the . 'Board of Control . I road it the other day , and , if it is requisite , 1 will read it again . Tho right honourable gentleman the President of tho Hoard of Control , in a speech addressed to his constituents very recently , had occasion to Upoak of tho conduct
of the pr $ j $ &t Bftfcehu ? 6 f the French . He used these words : — ' " ( take our neftreft neighbours ; such a despotism never prevailed jn Europe i&vWa ?? the time of Napoleon I . The press tagged » libert y subbr « ited ; no man allowed to speak nis Opinion ; the heigattSlrnig country of Belgium forced to gae her press ; no press in ' Bijurope free but ours , which , thank God , ne feannot gag ; and heice his hatred of our press , that it alone dares t » speak the trn ' ih . " " , - . . I wish to inquire of ^ rig ht honourable gentleman , and shall 1 )§ hij ) py to receive an answer from the noble lord , whether fcnat is an accurate andfair reportof the sentiments expressed on that occasion by the right honorable gentleman the President of the Board of Control ? Lord J . Rttssexi . . —The right honourable gentleman , in alluding to this subject the other night , stated that my right honourable friend the President of the Board of Con-Halifax to advert to
trol had occasion in his speech at our foreign relations , and that , speaking of Trance , he said so and so—the words which the rig ht honourable gentleman has repeated this evening . In the first place , I think it necessary to state that what my right honourable friend said was not in a speech with respect to our foreign relations , to which he was not adverting , but that it was in a speech to his constituents , in which , he took an opportunity of urging his views on Universal Suffrage and on Parliamentary Eeform in general . There is a very great difference between using an argument on that subject and going over the state of our relations with France . But I thought it necessary , after what had occurred , to call on my right honourable friend , and he has written me a letter to-day , which I shall read to the House , as it contains a statement far better than any I can make on the subject of my right honourable friend ' s expressions : —
" I am sorry to learn that any expressions reported to have been used by me in addressing a meeting of my constituents at Halifax should have been understood as offensive to the Emperor of the French . I cannot pretendtosay whether I did or did not use the precise words contained in the reports of my speech , but it is very possible that , spfaking as I was , without any premeditation , in a meeting of that kind , an incautious expression may have escaped me . I was pointing out the advantages of temperate and well-considered reform , as contrasted with more violent and precipitate measures , and in proof of this I referred to the events of the last few years in neighbouring countries , where tne temporary success of the extreme revolutionary party had led to the establishment of arbitrarypower , and in France that this had been carried to an extent unprecedented in the time of the first Emperor , and with the consent of the
French people , who had , on two occasions , voting by ballot and on the principle of universal suffrage , sanctioned the course pursued by the President and Emperor . I expressed no opinion on the conduct of the Emperor , or indeed of any one , though I cannot conceive that an English Minister is to bJie precluded from adverting to what he understands to be the state of things on the Continent "— { loud cries of" Sear , hear" )— " but I can say , with the utmost sincerity , that in doing so nothing could be further from my intention than to uae any words whicp could be considered as offensive to the Emperor , and I regret that any expression should havefaflbn from , me on that occasion on . which such an interpretation can have been placed . " The Marquis of CiuuraiCAKDE elicited a similar reply to a similar question put t » Lord Aberdeen . Lord Clanricarde , however , dwelt much on the responsibility of a Cabinet Minister : hinted that spoken and written
language had provoked " the late war ; " and solemnly declared that Ministers must take care not to wound the character , the honour , and the feelings of those with whom they held intercourse ; and desired to be informed whether our relations with France were of tho amicable kind ? and whether Lord Aberdeen would lay the correspondence relating to the recognition of the French Empire on the table ? Lord Aberdeen replied as follows : — " My Lords , it is not necessary for mo to give any assurance to your lordships of the earnest desire entertained by her Majesty ' s Government to cultivate the moat intimate relations or friendship and allianco with the French Government , for assuredly so long aa the policy of
France is a policy of peace and friendship neither we nor any other State have any sort of right to interfero with the internal concerns , or tho form of Grovorument , or even th . o dynasty that tho French people may p lease to establish . I am happy to assure the noble marquis that the best possible understanding continues unbroken between the Governments of tho two countries ; nor is there anything that can . appear as in the loast likely to endanger or diminish ' tifo cordiality of that understanding . I will venture to nay that no person is moro ready to maintain this good understanding in its full integrity than xny rijsjht honourable * friend to whoso speech tho noble marquis has referred . Tho noble marquis has neglected or omitted to describe the circumstances under which that speech waa dolivored . It
was a speech made to his constituents , and with a freedom of expression in which , perhaps , he may have employed , inadvertently , terms which he would not have used . if ho laid been addressing the IToubo of Commons . But j ask Lho noble marquis to recollect tho circumstances in which those expressions wore- used , —that my right honourable friend was addressing his constituents , and arguing against u wish which seemed to oxittt among some of . thorn in favour of Universal Suflrago and tho Ballot . In doing so , lie pointed out , —and , had it not been for a form of expression which 1 am sure ho regrets as much as I do , pointed out an argument which , whether good oir bad , was still a
perfectly legitimate argument , that tlio oxiatonco of TXm ' - versal Suffrago and tho Ballot had not prevented a Bftnto of things and a state of law in Franco , especiall y as affecting tho freedom of tho pross , which we should very much deplore to seo in this country . That i « tho substance of tho argument of my right honourable friond { and in it I see nothing to complain of ; nor is there anything that any man could possibly object to in tho spirit with which my right honourable friend spoko . 1 am aseurod by him that he can state with tho utmost sincerity that nothing could be further from his intention than to uho any words tb , at could be considered as olTenBivo to tho Emnordr , imfl ho regrets that any expression should havo fallen from him
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Trn THfi LlADER . [ Saturday ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 19, 1853, page 170, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1974/page/2/
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