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the loyal prerogative was not hampered by clubs , forced upon the Sovereign by a family compact , p r a majority in Parliament , there would be no such daring as they had ¦ witnessed on the part of a Calmuck prince , and no danger of the overturning of Europe . " These statements were received with loud cheers . ME . BRIGHT ' s VIEWS . Mr . Bright has written a letter to the promoters of a Manchester meeting against Russia . He says : —
" I can conceive nothing more unwise than tCendeavour to excite public opinion to drive the Government into a war with Russia in defence of Turkey . If such a war should be undertaken , I believe our children and posterity will judge us precisely as we now judge those who involved this country in war with the American colonies , and with France—with this difference only , that we shall be held to be so much more guilty , inasmuch as , having had the blunders and crimes of our forefathers to warn us and to
guide us , we shall have wilfully shut our eyes to the lessons which their unfortunate policy has lef t us . Manchester and the two millions of people in its district will , I hope and believe , regard those men as their worst enemies who by any act at this moment shall weaken the efforts of Lord Aberdeen to preserve the peace of Europe . If men would let their reason guide them rather than their feelings , I am sure the pressure of public opinion would be for peace , and not for war . War will not save Turkey , if peace cannot save her ; but war will brutalise our people , increase our taxes , destroy our industry , and postpone the promised Parliamentary reform , it may be for many years . " A memorial to Lord Aberdeen " against war" has been signed , of all places in the world , in Sheffield . Finsbury is to have a meeting on next Tuesday , to pronounce in favour of the independence of Turkey .
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THE PEACE CONFERENCE . In the handsome Music Hall of Edinburgh the English friends of peace held their annual meeting on Wednesday , to take counsel together and talk over the question . All the leading gentlemen of the sect were present ; Cobden , Bright , Cowan , MialL J . B . Smith , Hadfield , Hindley , and Bell—all Members of Parliament . Joseph Sturge , Elihu Burritt , and Henry "Vincent , were also present . Ladies were in the gallery and clergymen in the body of the hall . The Lord Provost of Edinburgh took the chair ; the Reverend Doctor Brown read a " prayer ; " and the Secretary read letters
from sympathising persons . Mr . Hume wrote that international arbitration was the proper course ; Sir David Brewster that war would die out like duelling ; and other public men expressed sentiments in a similar strain . The Lord Provost then made a short opening speech , and the Secretary told how the Society had distributed half a million tracts , and had held its meeting tliis year in Edinburgh purposely to counteract the warlike frenzy of the English people . Professor M ' Michael made the first set speech ; he denounced war as inconsistent with Christianity , and characterised the soldiers' trade as " damnable" and dishonourable .
"Better be a shoeblack , a chimney-sweep , a scwenger , than a soldier . " Mr . Miall , M . P . was the next speaker . He justified his part in the proceedings as obedience to the call of duty , even against the rising temper of the times ; denied that the press ( which is " gregarious" and follows the Times ) is on this question a representative of the people ' s will ; stigmatised the late " war" meetings as " seedy affairs , " and refused to consider the " vague sentiment" in favour of Hungary as the sign of a positively warlike spirit . Touching the present question , the Czar was doing in Turkey what some people wished to see done in Tuscany .
Mr . Cobden then rose to spoak , and was received with loud cheers . He plunged boldly into the middle of tho argument . No one ever meant to attack our shores—not even Napoleon the Great ; but we havo an idiosyncrasy of seeking quarrels in the remotest quarteru of the globe . We havo been successively fighting tho battles of almost every people on the face of tho earth ; but we have missed our objects and loaded our-Helves with debt . " I do not wish you to bow down your necks to an invader . Nobody wants or intenda to attack you . " The speaker then referred triumphantly to tho change irom tho former writings of tho proas on the subject of tho French aggression ; and
attributed to those writings tho present situation—tho J ^ mperor of Russia having believed that England and franco would not unito to resist him . But ho now finds that ho was misled . Mr . Cobdon then gave a t i """ tratioiA > f tho change in public opinion . . Now , I havo often thought , suppose an individual had neon ordered , iih many persons aro , for tho benefit ; of fchoir health , to loave our shores last January , tako a voyago to Al'fltraliu , un < l return homo again at . tho end of ninn months * 7 " . . would Iiavo left England preparing her militia and
for"l ying her counts ; ho would havo loft general oflieers writm ( i y > mo , offering to , Jay a wager Unit tho French were coining—( laug hter and cheers ); ho would havo loft artillery and other military oflteorn holding consultations , Hlcotchi F Plftn "> i »« l inspecting our fortifications ; ho would havo loft deputations from tho principal railway companion waitm upon the Admiralty and Ordnance to noo how noon tho JoinmiNflarint and advance nupplies migh (> bo transmitted * the Towor to Dover or Plymouth ; and h « would havo | ''ft in the min < ln of all a dread of a Vronch invasion . Well , j ><> inatlo tho circuit , of tho irlobe . he « aw no nmvHDnnnru
fW one roiwon , why invalids aro ordered abroad for tho woneflfc of thuir Ijealtli is that thoir winds may not bo Jwmissod by politics , twid wluvt tUoy rpiul in nevfBpanpr »~
and the month of September saw .-him landed again in England . The first thing he reads when he takes up a newspaper is that the French and English fleets are lying side by side in Besika Bay . He immediatel y says to himself , there is going to be a great battle . , ( A laugh . ) He turns to the first article in the very newspaper which told him in January that the French JJmperor was a brigand and a pirate , and that the French people were coming to attack us without notice or declaration of war , and he finds ifc declared that England and Franco are now so cordially united that their joint fleets in Besika Bay are under the command of Admiral Dundas , and that we are prepared to place an army under the command of a French general , with the view of acting against the forces of the Emperor of -Jtussia . The first question
he naturally feels inclined to ask is , can you trust the individual of whom you were saying , when I left England , that he was a brigand and a pirate ? If so , you are bound to admit that the friends of peace were right , and you were wrong . What security have you that the Emperor of the French ,, when the joint fleets go into action in the face of the Russian navy , \ ml not , in accordance with a recent engagement with the Emperor of Russia , demolish your fleet with his guns instead of turning them against the Russians ? Moreover , having thus destroyed your sliipg of war , what secur ity have you that he will not attack your coasts , sack your towns , burn down your houses , seize the Bank , carry off the Queen , and commit all those nameless atrocities with which you frightened the people nine months ago . " ( Cheers . )
Mr . Cobden proceeded to denounce the Turkish Government for their general treatment of their Christian subjects , and denied the reported progress of the Turkish nation . We who have shut up the Grand Mogul in D «! hi , and have attacked the Burmese empire with as little cause as a ruffian walks into a market place and kicks down an apple-stall—we have no right to object to the Emperor of Russia's quarrel with the Turks . Besides , there is no treaty binding us to fight for the maintenance of the Turkish territory .
Mr . Bright was the chief speaker in the evening sitting of the Conference . His speech was a rapid and pithy summary of the expense of yrar , with a , current exposure of the absence of all necessity for it , and an indication of the family intez'e . st 3 winch cause military armaments in this country . He first pointed out how peace was yearly proclaimed from thrones , and daily preached from pulpits : how that peace had lasted for thirty years ; and yet the nations of Europe are now spending 100 , 000 , 0001 . a-year on preparations for war . These expenses have driven Russia to frequent loans , and had caused a yearly deficiency in Austrian finance . But we—having had no coup d'etat—having no
jLombardy , ai * d no Hungary—spend more on military preparations than any nation in the world , independently of the 28 , 000 , 000 / . we pay for the policy of our fathers —a burthen that , in * our coming race with America , will tell against us . Not con tout with this , we now spend 17 , 000 , 000 / . a-year on our army and navy . We take from India 25 ) , 000 , 000 / . of taxes , and spend 12 , 000 , 000 / . in warlike preparations there . When tins expense is stated in millions , the people < lo not know anything about it . Arthur Young , writing before our last French war , put it thus : — "A very little calculation would show that the expense of our three last wars , which had no other effect whatever
but to spill blood and fill- gazettes , would have made tho whole island of Great Britain a garden—her whole coast a quay—and have converted all the houses in her towns into palaces , and her cottages into houses . " Or we may use another illustration . The value of Lancashire , at twenty years purchase , would he 140 , 000 , 000 / . ; hut take tho 17 , 000 , 000 / . a-year that we aro xiow spending , and throw it into a principal sum at tho rate of three per cent ., and it rejwesents a principal sum of 560 , 000 , 000 / . In whort , every four years we appropriate the whole ineouui of all the laud and all the buildings in England to support our military expenditure . All thin money comes , from the taxes of tho people : —
"But what are taxes ? The gold wil-h which you pay your income-tax , your succession-lax , your imports at tho Costom-hoHso , and your double price of many of tho ( . lungs fr mi con . iuine , is not picked up in the fitreflt . H . . No , it in the nbour of all this population that you in or I . day by day in town and in country , many suffering undtu- lm < l health and ndvorHO circumstances . What chins is it that tho peslilenco sweeps down ? Why , not ; the class that i . s comfortably oil " , but tho class which is the lowest ; in soeitit . y , whoso labour is most severe , whoso toil i .-i lensf , rewarded , and which passes from tho cradle to the grave , knowing little of those many comforts , which many of us everyday enjoy ; tlint in tho chiHs who aro pressed by poverty , hy misery , by ignorance , hy crime , and by nil tho evils to which men can he subject , and pressed by infinitely heavier Ncrewwhen tho
vJovcrmnont extorts irom tluv people any jjinount of taxes , which aro not absolutely necessary , for thd Nevvico of the State . JOvery man who knows what Christianity is , who known tbo cliamclor Avhieh Christianity gives to the Creator of tho world—wonders at times why thflro is so much misery and wretchedness , and guilt . " in the world . IJut , men can only bo happy in no far as they follow out those great , and juhL , and Christian principles which are laid down for their guidance ; and if we , who aro tho niiii'it comfortable , tho well-to-do , the educated , and tho iiifluentinl claisNCH of society , shut ourselves up in our comfortable Iiousoh , and fancy that all goes well if wo imagine that wo havo no need whatever lo take any euro or thought of politicH—if we allow a monarch or a ' i'urliumont , to trifle with tj > o wealth and industry of tho vomitry—wo niiiy bo
well assured that below our feet there is a vast mass of sorrow and of misery which we might alleviate , if we could not remove and which , if we neither alleviate nor remove will , some day or other , become an dement in society dan--gerous io our own peace and comfort , and dangerous- to the institutions under which wo live . : ( Cheers ) Wei ! . then , why should not we look at this question as a great practical question ? Our forefathers did many thinfs in % H u' ° S d WC La ™ done some . Why cannot we do this ? The Emperor of the French mav say 'I cannot reduce my army to 200 , 000 men ; my position is not verv secure ; I have not the prestige of a venerable and ancient monarchy like England . ' The Emperor of Austria mav say , 'IhaveLornbardy on one side and Hungary on the other ; ' but we can say none of these things . We have a Government which we respect ( hear , hear ); we have a monarch who , perhaps—yea , certainly—will boar
comparison , ana a lavourable comparison ( cheers } with i-nv or with all of Jier predecessors upon the English throne and we have a people more united , I undertake to sav at this moment , in regard to the law , and as a nation than we have had at any former period of our history . ( Cheers . ) ¦ We have no necessity for an armed force to keep down the people , or to enforce obedience to tlie law ; and yet our Government , by a succession of tricks — by cajoling the people—by persuading them to bo frightened by oneistory after another—has induced them to permit them to raise the ' military , expenditure from 11 , 000 , 000 / . in 1835 to 17 , 000 , 000 / . " in 1853 . " Instead of defending the Peace party , Mr . Brio-lit then attacked the war party , and compared this country with America : —
" I am ashamed to belong to a country that conducts itself as if it were a tribe of Ited Indians . We never bury the hatchet . We never give up war . We have fleets prowling about on every sea , and bullying somebody on every coast . ( A laugh . ) We ' cannot be as rational as the United State . ? . The population of the United States is about 24 , 000 , 000 , and by the time of the nerd census it will be as largo as that of this country . jN " , it is a fact that taking into consideration the ' expenditure ' of the Federal Government , the expenses of all the States , the cost oi : ¦ education , the payment of the debts both of the Union and of the separate States , and the expenditure for military purposes , the whole income and . expenditure of that great country is not more-than 14 , 000 , 0001 . ; so that \ ve spend
on the army and navy alone , after thirty years of peace , and apart from our expenditure in India , ' 3 , 0 * 00 , 000 ? . more than a nation of nearly equal population , of far greater extent of territory , and of a trade nearly-approaching- fo ours , expends in every department of government , education included . * I would like to ask you now , if you ever met an Ainoricnn who believed himyolf less safe in the world than an . " Englishman ? Did . you ever know tin American cause pleaded before any ltoyal Court in Europe which met ; with less respect than an English one P " Did you over know , whether in Austria or Tuscany , of an American'loss secure than an Englishman ? Is America a country less peaceful , or i . s it making less progress than we are ?" ' He asked for a public opinion against the war cry :
' ' Now , 1 ask you , citizens of Edinburgh , and gentlemen from all part ; of tho country , if this should not , be remedied even in our own day to f . onie extent , ? I nsk you -whether , with the freedom of the platform which ' we enjoy— - with the partial freedom of t : lu > press , and I . hope <> : •<' long to seo ^ it , entirely free—with the freedom and universality of the pulpit- —with publications pouring out Irom every press , and nowhere to a greater cutout than in this city—I nsk . you whether , with all ( hose elements for ascertaining truth and spreading information , it i . s not possible for us to create a sounder opinion hi this country ; to say to the ( Jloverninont , govern -wisely , govern well ; we require no military force to keep the peace ' in England ; treat , all foreign nations courteously , kindly , and honourably ; adhere to the great , principle of non-intervent
ion , and you may then cut , down lo an extent , which I will not ; now stay accurately to describe , the army and nnvv ol this country . Having ' but . twenty miles to cross the cllnnnel to a nation more populous , audits powerful and wealthy as our own , 1 havo no hesitation in . saying that a (»' overiiment , which was honestl y disposed lo fake ' the course wo advise would make some' definite and tangible proposition lo the Government of i ' nmce , by which tho rival navies of the two nations might , he diminished in amount , and therefore in cost , ; and every diminution of the navies of I . < Yunc <* and England tends to promote , peace between those two countries , while every diminution of our army at homo tends to penneato the ' minds of tho people- with the love of ponce . We should ( hen m » o a purr , enlightened , nnd ( 'liriftian love of peace among ( be people of this country ; and when that is lhoca . se I . believe there- never will come im
occasion in winch an honest , intelligent , and patriotic Ministry muy not ; adjust , our differences with foreign coun - tries without , involving us in the horrors and . calamities ol war . " ((» real , cheering . ) Ho UniH ended ; i speech full of f ; i . (! l . n and figure ; - ! , aixl Hpokon with great , fluency and emphasis . The speeches hy other pornoim aro vory nhorl , ly reported in t , he daily papers , and do not deserve ho to . . '
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Mr . Henry i ) ruinim > nd has an . 'nvored with of loot a letter inviting him to t . ! ic ( 'oufmmco . After tartly repudiating the , tone of exclusive love of peat re ; t , H , 'iuined hy tho lnoinlioi-M of the ( . ' ' onfcrcucc , he uayn : ¦ " You endeavour to rust obloquy on the profession of arms , and are indignant , lit . ' successful warriors occupying posts of distinction in Courts and Cabinets . ' Tako tln > a ' riny and the navy iih a class , and ( like any other eliiss of men {' this country merchants , fmdctmion , man ufacturer ! - ' wivantM , lawyers I'lmipiu'c I hem together for talents , patriotism , honour , viiluo , diMinten'stodncHS , kindness ' nt > lfdovotion — lor , in short , every quality that ennobles ' man and I assort , that , tho military class is , beyond measure ' superior to any other . You would prefer to nee statues oroctcd to ( hoMo \ yho havo Ijocn , mo ^ t eminent in . tho itunioy
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October 15 , 1853 ] THE LEADER . 987
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 15, 1853, page 987, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2008/page/3/
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