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prove the invidious and hostile feeling of Austria It is evident that the adherents of absolutism on the C ontinent do not -understand A merican policy ; but the Americans , we are fain to believe , understand themselves . President Pierce has equally been accused of entertaining extreme opinions , and of being undetermined in _ his policy ; but we have shown , that his appointments indicate a positive , active , and national policy . Their character is unmistakable . If there is any doubt at all , it consists in the appointment of Mr . Marcy to be Secretary of State . That gentleman , with all his distinguished
personal qualities , inclines to that spirit of " moderatism , " as it is called in Europe , which is really a compromise of decided opinions . But it would be an absurd error to suppose that any individual minister can check the decisive character inherent in General Pierce , and the men by whom he is surrounded . You can hardly look through a file of American papers without perceiving the longing which possesses the American mind , to extend the principles of the republic , whether by absolute annexation , or by aiding in the progress of freedom throughout the world . " We cannot , " says a paper which we may call provincial , a Connecticut journal , —
" We cannot , " says the Hartford Times , " yet believe that this country , held up by Providence as an example of what self-government can accomplish in the restraint of crime—of how much more efficacy law is than the bayonet—will be suffered to fall a victim to foreign combinations , to internal dissensions , to the progress of wickedness , or to the follies of ambition . God has still something for us to do in the political regeneration of the world , and that the great destiny of the nation will yet be fulfilled , in spreading the knowledge of the true principles of government through the world "
We perfectly agree with the correspondent of the Times , when he says , of Austria , " this Government will , at no distant period , have cause to rue the day on which it gave America an opportunity of picking a quarrel . " "Decidedly /' says the Journal of Frankfort , with that strange mixture of truth and misconception which distinguishes continental writers on English or American questions , — " Decidedly there is a secret pact between the United States and the Sultan . It is certain that the port Marmorizza has been in agitation . The Commodore has remitted nearly
500 , 000 dollars , in gold , to the Sultan ; he has taken position , with three frigates and corvettes , in the middle of the Turkish squadron in the Bosphorus . He pretends that the treaty of the Straits of 1841 does not regard him . " Whatever the truth or falsehood of these particulars , the statement serves to show , at once , the malice and the alarm with which the American eagle is regarded on the Continent . If England is irresolute , we do not believe that America is so , or that a single position taken up by the star-girt Eagle will ever again bo yielded .
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HONOURABLE SUBSERVIENCY TO DISHONOUR . It is remarkable tho extent to which society takes the last form of any question , and confounds the form with the substance . Latterly an affair of honour" was understood to mean an arrangement of two persons at a stated distance opposite each other , with a pair of pistols ; and tho real honour and merits of tho case , the generosity , tho truthfulness , tho justice , tho humanity , almost camo to bo considered irrelevant , if not
impertinent . So in Parliament , every man is an honourable member , whatever may be his conduct , unless ho be actually placed at the bar , and reprimanded , by the Speaker , in his proper name . But even when wo como to a more particular use of tho word honour , aa moaning something distinctive , we find that it still means conventional arrangements , separated from tho substance and merits of tho case . So divorcod have tho usagoa
of dobato become from the practical considerations of justice and humanity which dictated thorn , that an honourable mombor may strictly conform to tho rules of tho House , and yet violate truth , justico , and good feeling towards his fellow-mon , and faith to his country . And yet , again , if ho depart from those rules , for the sake of truth and juatico , and tho public woal , thoro will bo an outcry at Imh misconduct .
Tho othor night Mr . Bright violated one of thoHo conventional ruloa of honour , and aoldom has thore boon a loudor burst of cant , hypoorifly , malevolent and cowardly unfairnoBB , than that
with which he was assailed . Amongst the rules of the House it is set down , that you are not to make a charge against persons , unless you can bring forward names , and substantiate the charge . The rule looks very fair , and it would serve fairness in an assembly composed , entirely , of men bold and sincere , but it does not work exclusively for fairness , in an assembly-of the opposite kind . In society a great portion of polite art
consists in covering corruption with a veil ; and where all society , although more or less virtuous , or the reverse , connives at keeping the veil over the indecorum , there is no end to the unfairness and falsehood which may go on , under the glittering cover of a conventional honour . Thus it happens , that things proceed around us which we may know , but which we are forbidden to name . Who cannot recollect scores of instances of bad
things , which continue by virtue of that tacit sufferance P On Thursday last week , Mr . Bright assailed one of these covert conventional corruptions , and declared that he knew an instance , in which attempts had been made to use the patronage of the East India Company , for an oblique purpose . He had learned these facts in confidence , and therefore he was precluded from mentioning the individuals who were implicated . And are there not scores of such instances ? Do we not know in society of men , and women too , who break the laws by wholesale , which they
pretend to observe , in trade , in morals , in administration P Does it serve truth , to pretend that these things go on regularly , smoothly , and virtuously , when the fact is the reverse . There have been instances . in which the speaker was less strictly bound by confidence , but the indignation was almost the same > at any censure . We have known such things as a Minister ' s denying that a despatch had been received , after it had been ; yet that man is better welcome in honourable society than some of his straightforward denouncers would be . He is a man who can be admitted into society , without
fear that he will break Its glass cases ; whereas , amongst the social shams , the direct speaker is like a bull in a China shop . We remember a Minister who quoted part of a despatch , to prove , on the high authority of Lord Harris , that the West Indies were prospering , the extract being divorced from the context , which asseverated the direct opposite ; yet there was no howl against Lord Grey , even in a rigid honourable assembly . When Mr . Stafford declared that he had not received Sir Baldwin Walker ' s resignation , there was a degree of impatience to believe him : Lord John Russell hastened to declare that Mr .
Stafford had thoroughly exonerated himself ; and we verily believe that there was more dislike of those who had brought the Admiralty corruptions to a thorough exposure , than to those who had revived these corruptions ; although , in that particular case , it so happened that party interests were served by the exposure . The true test of honour is the substantial merit of the case and the interest at stake . Mr . Bright asserts that there is a corrupt distribution of Indian patronage ; Sir James Hogg asserts that if the originator of the accusation be named , the
East India Directors will prosecute him ; and the public haa found no difficulty in believing both assertions . We all of us believe that appointments made without responsibility are not governed exclusively by regard for tho interests of the whole empire , but are also governed , if not in a greater degree , by regard for tho individual interests . No doubt these arrangements would always be managed in such a way aa to avoid flagrant scandal ; but should that nice arrangement , or even tho possibility of error , be a reason why we should continue to wink even at a suspicion that thero is malversation of such important trusts P On tho contrary , it appears to us
that the violation of good fooling and breach of honour lie in winking at tho corruption , not in denouncing it ; that if tho arrangements are so complete for concealing direct evidence , it ia still tho duty of a courageous xnau to get as near to the truth as he can , by plain and direct speaking . The man who rofrains from doing so through foar of such reproaches as wore levelled at Mr . Bright , lowors his own truthfulness to tho standard , of conventional hypocrisy , and becomes an acoomplico in tho corruption which a little rough handling would shake out of its tranquil impunity . Thero is no doubt that Mr . Bright ' s blunt speaking- will bo useful to India ana to tho Empire ; nnd was far more honourable to him , than that
conventional courtesy which perseveres in hush ing up notorious scandals , so long as the ill-doer contrive to fulfil their little arrangements with as much privacy as custom requires .
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A WINTER SESSION . Ovee-wobk , and consequent exhaustion of min& and body , want of time for the performance of social duties , mental culture ; , and innocent re ; creation , are common complaints among our working classes , on which we need waste no writing here . But the world has lately listened to similar complaints from our legislators . They to whorii the working classes look for redress have grievances of their own , Mr . Cobbett in ! troduced a bill for limiting the hours of labour
in factories and workshops . Before long , ^ shall have a Home Secretary coming down to the House with a bill for limitation of hours in the House of Commons . The Lords manage to pass their time agreeably enough . Only on grand occasions , such as a call for a splendid display of intellectual gladiatorship , when Lord Derby tries his skill withtheDukeof Newcastle , andsomeques . tion of principle is at issue , do we hearof their lordships sitting far into the night , or breaking in upon the still repose of morning with their noise of voices . In the Commons it is different . A
cab horse enjoys the luxury of indolence , compared with a working member ; ambition , prospects of a place , love of notoriety , or the external pressure of constituents , are as " exigent " in their demands upon his time and labour as the most determined " cabby" in the metropolis . During the early portion of the session there are committees from eleven o'clock , or , it maybe , earlier , which last till the hour of four ; at five the bell , inexorable as that which summons unhappy operatives from their beds , calls members to the
work of legislation . And no easy work it is . From 4 o ' clock p . m ., to some hour ranging between midnight and 4 a . m ., as has lately happened more than once , our legislators are condemned to linger in the precincts of the House , to be ready for a division , if they have not endured the additional torture of listening to prosy debates , in which they can feel the very smallest amount of interest . Matters are even worse as the session advances . The press of business
produces morning sittings , and the House is occupied from noon till A q'clock , and , with a short interval of two hours , from 6 p . m ., until the exhausted senators wander dreamily through the streets , sickened , rather than refreshed by the morning air , to snatch a few hours of distracted repose . What dreams they are which haunt this victim to public duty it would be easy to imagine . Then comes the mass of corresponrlfinfle . Letters from constituents on most
ridiculous subjects—letters of importance—letters of private friendship—all demanding an immediate reply . What is to be done P One of tho main complaints wo take to be no real complaint at all—that of late hours . In this tho members of tho House of Commons arc no worse off than fashionable ladies and dancing Guardsmen . We put no faith in tho nursery fable , that one hour ' s sleep before 12 o ' clock at night is worth any two after that hour . Some men are fat : sleek-headed men , and such bb sleep o' nights . " Others , like " Randal Leslie , neither like nor require much sleep . But whatever be the exact measure of repose required , wo take it that it matters little whether it is enjoyed
at morning , noon , or night . Let this grievance , then , go for what it is worth . Doubtless the real ovils consist in tho burdensome character of legislation ; tho amount ot business to be transacted in the House of Commons ; tho onerous duties imposed upon Ministers ; and the consequent want of time for the performance of social duties . Mr . Drummono has proposed to remedy these evils by in troducing tho practico of a winter session , and Jjora John Russell gavo a partial assent to tho pro ' posal , but deferred its consideration to a nioro nrmvf » nir > nf ; hohmoti "With ro . nnxd to tho JirS
evil it is not tho amount of wox'k , but its character , which form tho main objection . Tho uctnft amount of labour undergone by mombors ot tn House of Commons ( ulwaya excepting Minisw" * and working conscientious members like mI J ^ whom wo could name ) is not eo eovoro as tna entailed upon journalists , barristers , physici" *™' and men in other callings ; but it is m many casoH woarisome , boring , ceaseless , and un P fitable . The Legislature takes too much upo »
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734 THE LEA PER , ESasurday , ¦
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 30, 1853, page 734, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1997/page/14/
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