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ipHMintf ^ lp Mm ' to the list oi expl oits achieved •• W ^ lwpCTSiM ^ ineii for the sake of the glory . ' What matters it , that we do not intend , as Lord John says , to despoil other states of their provinces for our own profit ? It is our - dear duty , although waiving profit , still to despoil other states of their provinces , and , notably , to despoil Russia . We may give the profit to others whom it may benefit more than ourselves . " We want neither Bessarabia , nor Finland , Warsaw nor Cracow ; but other stateB want those provinces , and it will , we say , —^ although ODord John , yielding to the dogma of the day in which we verily believe - fctat lie does not sympathise , disclaims con-- guests—it will , we say , be a glorious moment when Bngliah armies shall wring from raorti-¦ &ed and reluctant Russia those provinces which are trophies of her own wrongous invisions , and- shall give them ^ away to grateful btit independent nations . If England cannot relish 'glories like that , we may tell Queen
Victoria that the lease of her throne has a fatal flaw in it , —that she is about to become tTie tenant at will of Russia ; and then we had better hand over the English flag to our American sons , and ask them to take care of it for iis , since we have lost the capacity of doing it for ourselves . - Bilt wiB ^ have not yet got to that pitch of national degradation , and therefore is it , that JSnglishmen should protest against statesmen professing to be their Ministers , who speak not only as Lord John , speaks , but as liis new colleague , Sir George Grey . He expresses " his regret" at the recurrence of
war ; Ins deep regret at the re-opening of a period in which Englishmen may add to the Hat of glories achieved by their countrymen . "War , " he says , "is one of the greatest evils by which the human race can be afflicted ; " but granting that it is attended by evils , it is at feast not so frightful a disease as national timidity , national indifference , or the loss of national spirit . " There are but two main objects , " he said , " which a Government must have , —one is the effectual prosecution of the war ; the other , the speediest termination consistent with the attainment
of a just and honourable peace . " Wow , for our own part , we disclaim that as an object . The soldier that carries on war with the im-Satience to have done with it will let his esire appear in his manner , and will accept a peace too soon to be completely honourable . The war must be carried on with the determination to get out of it all that it can be
made to yield , for the interests of this country , for the welfare of Europe at large , and for the glory of . those to whom Providence shall give the victpry . That last part ia essential . The ultima ratio reguni , the last appeal of states , is an appeal to Divine Providence to decide between those whose human
reason ia insufficient for the decision ; Vnd according as a nation is wise , virtuous , and strong , the victory will be awarded to it in that wager of battle . Therefore , half the value of the verdict lies in the national glory attained from it . But it is the Prime Minister who utter j the language which Englishmen , having the past of the country in their memory , and the
spirit of Englishmen in their hearts , will bo most eager to disclaim . The purpose of tho war , he declares , ia solely to prevent an unjust aggression . He declares that lie is not indifferent to the conduct of the war , and yet he disclaims " vengeance . " There is a groat debt of wrong which ltirssia has been heaping up , and unless tho sovereign whom her enslaved people support shall come forward and
declare before the "world , that he repents him of the sins of his empire , then justice will be unsatisfied if vengeance be not dealt upon tliat bad sovereign and that servile empire . It is the duty of England , ^ re say , to inflict vengeance . The glory of England will be the
abasement of Russia , and Englishmen can as little waive one half of that result as they can attain to the glories of wai without bloodshed . But , says Lord Aberdeen , " we ought never to close our earB to th « e voice of peace . *' The country will not think so ; the country will say that we must not listen to a word from Russia until Russia shall have laid down
her arms before our conquering soldiers . Then we may listen to peace , but not before . The Minister who novr balks of peace behaves like the traitor in a stormed town who makes signs of capitulation to the enemy . He is traitor even to the dictates of humanity j for nothing can more certainly conduce to the calamities of Europe than to make Russia believe that she still has allies , even in
England . If Xiord Iiyndhurst were only ten years younger the English people * would answer his speech on Monday night last , with one voice declaring he is the man to be our Minister . Has he no political son ? Is the country of Cromwell dead ?
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A MIDDLE-CLASS MINISTER . Th ose journals which are most interested in party movements , and are , at the same time , not most hostile to the present . Ministers , admit—nay , earnestly declare—that the late redistribution of offices has seriously weakened the present Government . The reasons appear to be , not only that the present changes are made without sufficient reasonin itself a cause of suspicion—but that some conduct , arbitrary and personally offensive , has been used in procuring a couple of
vacancies for two leaders of the " Whig party , — Lord John Russell and Sir George Grey . We pay comparatively little attention to these statements , because to a certain extent they are incompatible . For instance , one writer ranges Lord John IRussell , Sir George Grey , and Lord Palm erst on together , yet Sir George Grej evidently belongs to the Aberdeen section , so far as it is pledged to peace . But the true exposure , infinitely more serious than personal wrongs or slights ,
is made in the Binople narrative of Mr . Strutt . Office was proposed to him without solicitation ; like an honest man , he was desirous of giving his whole time and energies to the public service . He was placed in the post of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster , and on entering office he found that its duties , although not unimportant , were far from sufficient to occupj a man ' s time . It might have occurred to another man , that if the routine duties of liis office were not
enough to fill up his tiine , he might occupy the remainder oy the political duties oi a Cabinet Minister ; but if Mr . Strutt had any ambition of that kind , it is quite evident that he had no opportunity , This is apparent from the sequel . On returning to town , after the Whitsuntide holidays , lie received a communication from Lot-d Aberdeen , telling him that Government found themselves in a
position of considerable difficulty with respect to arrangements which they considered to be most important for tho public service ; that they had finally concluded all those arrangements , which depended , however .,.. upou their having at their disposal tlio office ; that ho then held ; and tha . ( xJtheir final conclusion only awaited the oppression of his concurrence . All this had l > een dorto without consulting him at all , and this statement wna the first ho heard of it I In othor words , Lord Aberdeen , Lord John ltuasell , and others of the
Cabinet Ministers had arranged for the expulsion of Mr . Strutt , and politely told him that they only awaited hie resignation . He must have felt exactly like a man wh o has permitted himself to accept an invitation . to a gTeat house , who enters amongst the
distinguished company , and finds himself superciliously unrecognised by everybodypresent—isolated amidst the number , and ashamed of the false pride which prompted him to accept the invitation / Such a man wanders about , endeavouring to feel at ease , and anxious only for ' the "period of release . " I shall be happy , " exclaims the host , " to see you again ; and tlie obedient visitor , accepting the liint to withdraw , gratefully
shakes the proffered hand and retires . With ordinary men the matter might hare ended there . Mr . Strutt had been made to know his place , bad been duly mortified ; and it was to be expected that , like a man saying his prayers in church , \ e would have decorously hidden his agitated face in his hat and said no more about it . Instead of that , he
goes and tells the Commons ; and the House , which at first laughs at his absurd position , ultimately recognises in his plain language the true dignity of a real gentleman , ^ pd by its cheers signifies its sympathy with his just and proud indignation . Mr . Strutt is treated with a personal slight , which plainly tells him that he ia not worth a more considerate
treatment . Why ? Because be belongs to a class that is inferior to the class which lias the privilege of furnishing Ministers of the Crown . It is true that sometimes individuals of comparatively low birth , —a Canning or a Peel , —may in the second generation , or the third , or sometimes even in the first , work themselves up into the grade that supplies official men ; but then they must labour to establish their position , socially as
well as officially . They must , by hook or by crook , obtain the requisite income , they must be drilled in the requisite etiquette , they must know how to place their morning calls and their evening parties . In short , whether by blood , by wealth , or still more , by savoir faire , they must become " one of us , " then they will be consulted when they are admitted to office as veil as when they are turned out .
If they do not belong to this confraternity , oflptce is thrown at them as crumbs are to a dog , and they are kicked out when they are thought to have had enough . In such cases it is presumed , in the first place , that pride and the hope of advancement , or of restoration , will bind the man to those who give him distinction , as an alms . In the second place , that
when kicked out , shame will keep him silent . Strutt had liis " right honourable" and a kick , and therefore , it was thought , he had two inducements to conceal the indignity put upon him . As to his colleagues it mattered little—Strutt out of office , or Strutt in office , it was all one to them ; and indeed we are not aware that Mr . Strutt has done half
so much in the Chancery of Lancaster , as he has done at Belper or Derby , without any official distinction . That which the English pedple will gather from these acts is something more than the truth about Mr . Strutt . It is clear that the possession of office is , if not arranged between particular families , at all events between people in particular circles of society .
Piebums like Mr . Strutt ; are excluded from any authority in such matter , aa much aa the bulk of tho people . Such was an intelligible arrange meat when real power accompanied tho possession of land , and the furnishing a given armed force to the slate was suit and service for feudal tenure . It now only subsists by force of cliqucry . Certain gentlemen , with no particular hold upon tho land or institutions of the country , are enabled to pass
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THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 24, 1854, page 588, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2044/page/12/
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