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Leader (1850-1860), 17th February 1855, Edition 1 of 2, Page 160, — — — dbif^tT ((r/TT1TTtrt I ' Vll/jH-U WUUIRU.

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      Untitled Article

      -THE STBAUGEK ' IN PARLIAMENT . ftSom which is left to his pen and discretaon . ] p ^ jAMBNT fiasreassemblea . What for ? jWalk-W down to Westminster , several reasons for the reopening might have occurred to the Great Bnton , In the first place there was a new Government _ ; that is to say , two old Lords having quarrelled with one another , and each forced the other out , a third old Lord had stepped in and seized the chief place ;

      and the Great Briton , who , notwithstanding his selfgovernment , is in a normal state of bewilderment as to his governors , is always anxious for the whole secret of a Ministerial crisis . What Lord Palmerston , turned out ignominiously two years ago for " recognising" our present " cordial ally , " had come in for : what conditions our Queen had made with him : what conditions he B > d made with Mb coUeagues : and what policy his Ministry would propose to Parliament and the people ? Then , the variety of the minor Ministerial changes—arrangements synchronous with

      thejantomime season—the Great Briton would he disposed to receive with gratitude some information as to British history in these respects during the last fortnight . Why had Lord John Russell been transported to Vienna—had he been made a diplomatist because he had recently demonstrated such duplicity ? Why Lord Panmure—who , last night , told the Lords he was going to carry on the war with " vigour" ( pronounced wigour ) , while a Very high-bred gout Was twitching about his lower jaw—had been elevated , in his old age , to a post for irhich no one would have thoughthim qualified when

      he was hearty Fox Matile ? Why Lord Panmure , being incapable , an inibecile had been selected to aspisthiminthecapacity of Secretary ? Why SirFrancis Baring had been joaade Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster?—one- ansWer to which query might be that , a 6 he brofce'downin two great offices , Exchequer and Admiralty , and as he is of the clique which has to be provided'for , no better post could be selected for him than that at which he will have nothing to do , —his " business habits" of twaddling from nine

      a . m . to four pjh . being only dangerous , now , to his Private Secretary , whonVthe public will pay 2500 / . per annum for being bored to that extent ? Why Mr . Robert Lowe had left the Treasury bench and ensconced himself , "below "the " gangwayr in the w ^ e of the able " outsider" ambitions- * -such as the Brights , Horsmans , Blacketts , Seymours , and Layards ? Why Mr . ' Layard—who doesn't seem to have the . patience to wait for some grander rdle than that of the Hammonds—gentlemen of brains who are sent on " missions" to keep close

      to the elbows of imposing old Lords — had not been allowed the gratification of his humble ambition in getting the place of mental medical attendant to Lord Panmure ? Why Lord Goderlch , a young . Lord , had not condescended to the quireship to Mr . Sidney Herbert ? Why , Mr . jjTitzroy had got a " Right Honourable" accession of . dignity ? What was the meaning of Admiral Xiapier stating that Sir . James Graham was a villain , and of Admiral Berkeley , in vicarious reply , announcing that Admiral Napier was not given to accuracy of narration ? In short , the Great Briton would have been inclined to suppose , up to the moment of the rising of the curtain last evening , that Parliament had met in order to give him some

      Information as to what was going on in Great British affairs . But the Great Briton left out of account that we have now got a Premier whose Parliamentary eminence is attributable entirely to afelicitous faculty of keeping a self-governed , but still eternally in-^ n trlngcoim try ^ profbundlyinthe daTk as to " aflHirs . " We have had secret diplomacy and secret history before ; hut at last we have got the same man to carry on both processes of public delusion , Those , however , who have studied Lord Polmerston , have ever found tbi * excuse for his secretiveness—that he himself never knows what he is about , and , on the whole , doesn't care . It '» perhaps a shame that he announced no policy ]* rt , night : but then we deserve that for appointing a Minister who has no policy . What do we

      want with statesmanship?—We merely want the war carried on with vigour . ' Lord Palmerston , conscientiously 'responding to the demand of the country , means to do something awful ; but , as to whaVit may be why he is in the same state of mind as Othello m respect to the arrangement of his vengeance . _ _ The full House was doubtless disappointed . With a new Ministry there are new hopes , new resolutions , new trustfulness ; the House of Commons is then in its most respectable mood-it feels national and

      selfston shrank not before those representative " eyes ot the world : "—above or below the occasion , he held himself and spoke with the easy recklessness ^ witn which M'Cad ' s Counsel defends M'Cad on a charge of petty larceny . The matter was ^ commensurate with the manner . In consequence of the statements already made ( and Lord Palmerston in his heart condemns that chattery communicativeness ) by Lord Derby , Lord John Bussell , and Lord ^ Lansdowne , he had very little to say , he observed , with regard to the formation of his Government . Every one else having failed , though , for his part , he would have acted with anybody who had succeeded , the

      he was sent for on Saturday , and by following Tuesday he had formed a Government . What ^ valuable information for the House 1 But the House hear-heared ; in the excitement of the moment it considered it was getting at the secrets of haute politique . Attention deepened . Well , having formed a Government ( no matter on what principle , no matter what for ) he had to consider the recent vote of the House of Commons— -in consequence of which , in point of fact , there had been a change of Government . He—aw —deplored —aw— that vote ; and when the House came—aw—to reconsider thelmafcter , he was sure that it would see that , in noint Of fact , it must change its mind about

      the Committee of Enquiry . Grave and solemn hear-hears . He told them a light anecdote in his pleasant manner , with that jocose swing of the arm which gives such emphasis to his good stories . When Wat Tyler was knocked down , Richard rode up to the mob and said , " You have lost your leader—I will be your leader . " " Give up the Committee , and I will be vour Committee , " said Palmerston . —( Feeble and abashed laughs . )—The House of Commons felt it was being put down—in point of fact —( Lord Palinerston ' sfavouritephrase)—likeTyier ' sj ^^ went on to show what he had done to carry oh the war with vigour , and render the Committee supererogatory . Sent' out a new army—a new general—destroyed

      promotion by purchase ? The idea ! " Sir—aw—I have sent out several hundred scavengers—scavengers , Sir—aw , to clear the camp . " This is the provident Mars of the war : the soldiers being all dead , he guarantees a supply of vultures ! Thus is England to retrieve her reputation : our Government is to continue an oligarchy , but the old lord is to be tempered by the nightman . But something more . He had selected General Simpson and Sir John M'Neile—parties whom no one ever happened to hoar of—to assist the Staff in confounding confusion ; and he thought also that as so many soldiers were dying daily , it was highly desirable that — there should be more surgeons . These are the vigorous measures for carrying on the wars , Amazed—silent—House of Commons : Lord Palmerston * , his voice benefiting by the

      exercise , growing more and more craftily bold : his manner , availing itself of the quiet and respectful audience , mere and more flexibly impertinent . Then , as to peace . There > w . as a prospect of peace . Lord John Russell had gone to Vienna : and Lord John was a great statesman—indeed , he might say a very great statesman . ( Loud cheers from the Whhj Incapa-61 es . ) The House , * life the rest of the public , had seen the fact stated in the Times a day or two before ; but still Lord Palmerston thought it the right sort of safe old news to announce—it sounded as if he was telling the country something . And then , in best House of Commons balanced periods , Lord Palmerston concluded his feat of statesmanliko statement by appealing to all parties to—aw—In point of fact , sink their differences in order that he might have a pleasant time of it .. " The noble lord resumed his seat amid loud cheers . "

      Mr . Disraeli rose . It was a great momont in * the history of England . As Warwick ' was Last of the Barons , so Lord Palmerston is tho Last of the old Lords : the House of Commons had been insulted : the country had been fooled : Mr . Disraeli had a splendid opportunity for historical criticism . But he

      had only to observe—exclusively thinking of his functions as Lord Derby ' s Parliamentary agentthat Lord Palmerston had not done justice to Lord Derby ! ' And , generally , that the new Government , being just the same as the old Government , couldn ' t be expected to get on very much better : —Mr . Disraeli forgetting that it was precisely this Government which he had been ready to join . The fidgety irony , and feeble malice , didn't tell : Mr . Disraeli ' s vicious drawling style , which he appears to have permanently adopted , wearies , and members scarcely heard him in patience ; —his own side scarcely laughed—they miss of late that gladia-. — . . . , ,. ? . . . _ ——i . *! -- —S— - —1—¦ , x 1 ,: Hl .:-. „ _ j * ¦*

      torial dash which made Mr . Disraeli a parliamentary personage . And after that , set in a washy series of small speeches of small men—all complaining of the noble Viscount—all bewildered—all vexed —all silly . Here and there a man spoke with a voice sounding like an Englishman ' s . Mr Tom Duncombe defined what he meant by carrying on the war with vigour : he meant going at Russia with a purpose and with strength sufficient to destroy her . It was taken as a joke ; the House roared ; the Treasury bench was frightfully facetious . Mr . Horsman suggested the solemn function of an English Member of Parliament : - —the House rushed to dinner .

      And , soon , one began to discover why Parliament had been recalled to sit . The House went into Committee on the Navy Estimates : twenty or thirty members kept together : Several millions voted ! A propos of the Navy Estimates , Sir James Graham was asked with , respect to Sir Charles Napier ' s charges against him . Sir Charles Napier is the great Admiral of the period : with brains and manhood he has- served his countrymen—he came after Nelson—and he yet raised the fame of

      England . Sir James Graham is a Border Squire , a man of bad political character , a man of mere clerky intellect , a man who , dead in February , would be forgotten in March . But Sir James Graham , intrenched among the class conspirators whom Sir Charles Napier defies , can afford to refuse explanation to an insulted Admiral—and to refuse it with the accompaniment of small sneers , amid the tittering of the degraded House of Commons . - _ "AStbamosb . "

      respectful ; and , at such times , the most cautious of our class conspirators , who get front rank on the Treasury bench , are compelled out of insouciance into seriousness . But Lord Palmerston takes matters quietly . His first appearance as Premier ( for a very short engagement , probably ) did not in the least shake his cynSnerve . That masculine voice was without , a tremor ; the audacious head was held as daringly defiant as though the assemblage were an assemblage of Urquharts ; speaking a speech j hich ^ all tr . « rnrw » will read in all its languages , Lord Palmer-

      Untitled Article

      tlN THIS DEPARTMENT , AS AMi OIUNIONS , HOWBVKB BMBKME , ABE ALLOWED AN EXPRESSION , THE BDITOB NECESSARILY HOLDS H 1 MSEf . F RESPONSIBLE KOItNONK . l

      Untitled Article

      A VOICE FROM THE MOUNTAIN . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) The Cave , North Wales , February _ 14 , 1855 . Sib , —What is all this outcry that I hear abroad ? What is this clamour that reaches me in my retirement , and disturbs the repose of my old age ? I am told that the Times has come out in the revolutionary line , and proposes to root up the basis of our magnificent army by- abolishing-theprivileges ^ of . the aristocracy in that army—the privileges , sir , that rightly belong to long descent and great wealth . I am told that our late disasters in the Crimea , upon

      which my neighbour the parson preach es , _ are referred to aristocratic mismanagement and high-born incompetence , that we must look to the populace to direct our military strategy , and to the mercantile classes to furnish transports and a commissariat by contract . I am told that the art of war is to be a matter of demagogy and a department of trade . I am told that there is a universal hue and cry against our " governing classes , " as if the multitude deserved better governors than they can get . All this proves to me that these journals , headed by the Times , and this " million" of whom we have heard so much are

      bent on revolution ; yes , sir , revolution ! Why , I should like to know , if promotion in the army , that last institution of chivalry , is to go by merit as it is called , why should not promotion in the Legislature go by merit also ? Why should we have a hereditary House of Peers ? Why not Universal suffrage and an elective Senate ? Why should promotion in tho Church go by favour , and bo purchasable by wealth ? Why should not this sagacious multitude appoint the clergy , and the clergy elect the bishops ? like

      I can understand a consistent radical paper tho Leader pushing radical theories to extremes , but I cannot understand a supporter of King , Lords , and Commons , of Church and State , like the Times , putting forward such revolutionary doctrines as promotion by merit . Don't tell me , sir ; I am a Church and King man ; and I toll you that this clamour of the " blatant beast , " the insurrection against authority , the pretonsion of the mob and tho press to dictate state policy and military strategy , and prescribe military regulations , and imperiously demand the rpcal of this , and the appointment of that commander , will bring tho country into anarchy , destroy her power , dismember the empire , and upset our glorious constitution which the aristocracy , in times past , won for an ungrateful people . Cadwaixadbb Llewelyn .

      Untitled Article

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  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 17, 1855, page 160, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2078/page/16/