On this page
- Departments (2)
-
Text (7)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Contents
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Mtm ttf the Wuk
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
EXHIBITIONS lead the world just now ; the French Government and our own vieing with "Vesuvius and Mr . Charl . es Keax in splendours . The opening of the Paris Exhibition , however , has been a collapse . Cold and gloomy weather , fog and mud , chaos within the building , disaffection and indifference without : the Emperor pale as fate , slouching , haggard , and sombre , as if the ghost of Pianoki were dogging him still . The very bees of his embroidered throne begin to sting . Only his Empress was radiant with smiles and courtesies , but , it is whispered , a little
overdressed , like a dynasty postiche . In the midst of all that brilliant valJtaille there was a darkness that could be felt . The Emperor took his seat of state in a magnificent position , provided for him amongst the lumber and imperfect stores of the half-finished building ; the whole scene typifying very well the mise en scene of Imperial France . The French are apt to be unpunctual : the carpenters had not swept away their sawdust , the exhibitors had not unpacked all their cases , and the Emperor was twenty minutes behind time . This dereliction of Imperial duty was exactly noticed by the business-like English reporters , who remember that our clocks refuse to strike
until Queen Victoria has taken her station , well knowing that they must be wrong if she is not yet at her post . There were other things forgotten at the Paris Exhibition—such as gaiety or spirit—indigenous to France , but at a premium just now : Item , the sunshine , which hnd not been procured for the occasion : Item , truth and verisimilitude : the pinchbeck C ^ esa it proclaimed the warehouse to be the Temple of Concord , as if lie desired to burlesque " the situation ; " and he made significant allusions to his "dear cousin , " the son of Jbromk—who condescends just at present to hide his likeness to tho first jSTapohson
in an impenetrable beard , though he has not the decency to conceal his dislike of the man but for whom ho would bo nothing but a farceur , and anything but an Altesse . The fact is , that tho French capital is not just now in a condition for festivities . The Government has put forward a new improvement in tho regulation of bread , which tells us much . When tho season of difficulty approached , Governinont fixed tho price of bread for the public , and made the municipality pay tho difference between tho fixed
price and the real cost . The law was praised as a grrand tribute- from the well-to-do class , who could pay the tax , to the poor and the people . The people had their " panem" in those days without the " Circenses ; " but unlike Imperial Rome , Paris cannot have both together . Your CLesar now vouchsafes the Circenses in the Exposition , but the " panis" is withdrawn . The law regulating the bread-price is repealed , and the loaf is left to " the higgling of the market "—
a reservation being made for the poor , who are to be provided with bread-tickets as in 1847 . The plebs , therefore , is cut off the reduced bread-list , which is only retained for the paupers . The Government journals , of course , are delig hted at the wisdom of the new law ; just as they were delighted at the wisdom of the repealed law . Cjesar shows his face ' to France , and everybody is charmed at its wisdom and beauty . Caesar turns his back , and the journalists are more charmed .
The resignation of M . Drouyn » e Lhuys has been followed up by two others of unequal importance . General Cankobekt has made way for General Pkmssier . We have already explained that General Canrobeut was a man of merit in his profession , but of mediocre abilities ; and that he was constantly assisted by Bosquet , whose republican antecedents lay under Imperial disgrace , and who had obtained service
in the East only through the intercession of his friend . Canhobert's health has given way under tho trials of his position ; his fussy nature has worn down under that constant canLering about the place with which he endeavoured to supply the want of real mastery . The repute of Prissier is tarnished by the cruel incident of the Dahra , but he knows how to strike an enemy , and how to make his own soldiers confide in him .
Still more important is tho resignation of Count Nkssejluoi > e , the Chief Minister of Russia ; and wo cannot dissever it from that of the late French Minister . The two men belong to an order which lias , indeed , acted against the public feeling of this country and against the military interests of tho Western Powers . Some time since we oxplained , wo believe with tolerable accui'acy , ' how tho tendency of the diplomatic profession is to constitute its most distinguished members into a species of guild ; how , when they meet in conference , those leading diplomatists feel that they , more than their own Governments separately , are ruling tho world ; and many , deriving power
from their corporate action , have acquired a species of allegiance to the guild of diplomacy , which influences them in some cases more than their allegiance to their own sovereign or to their country . We have little doubt that the professional diplomatists at Vienna would have been glad to settle the world in their own way , and that Nksselrode not less than Drouyn de Lhuys is angry at the wrong-headed obstinacy which prefers the authority of the sword to that of the guild .
Pianori has died bravely ; Louis Napoleon lives ; so does Cantillon . The French official journals and their English compeers are in ecstasies of sycophancy . At present there is no more to be said than that Pianoju and his country had received deep wrongs , and that the " dastardly assassin" faced certain death to avenge them .
Our exhibition for the week has been the royal distribution of rewards to the soldiers returneJ from the Crimea in the Horse Guards Parade . Her Gracious Majesty , in the presence of Lords and Commons , Officers of State , and " distinguished persons "—the public being kept at a respectful distance—gave to the wounded veterans and returned soldiers the medal which is to
distinguish them . This is an improvement upon " i-ccent legislation" in that behalf . Until now the gift of a commission to an occasional sergeant was the highest reward for the men enlisted in the ranks ; the commission being to him somewhat like the elephant-gift to tho poor man in Indiuthe bounty which ruins him in the cost that it entails through the customs of a commission-purchasing mess . Before now the soldiers were only
" inspected" by royalty , and allowed to have a dinner in tho servants' hall 5 or on occasions of great bravery , a 5 Z .-noto was given to the Britbu hero , as a landlord will give 51 . and a dinner to his gamekeeper who knocks a poacher on the head in plucky style . The soldiers' battles of the East , and the public opinion of the country , are teaching manners to royalty .
But medals are not the only reward . Death is given to some hard-working men in tho East . Captain CiinidxiE , the Harbour-master at Bukiklava , has been killed by tho censure accumulated upon him . Ho ia one of " tho Jojsasjcs , " thrown over by the Government , to propitiate an angry public . When it- was found that tho machinery would not work in the East , and when tho indignation of tho country rose against an incompet ent Government , it was necessary to find scapo-
Untitled Article
¦ jjpjkJ , ^ , j 'j , , . 1 ,. i ,, [ i .. l .. { 1 . . ,,. . . J ' . i ii . . . "" i .. " . '" .. ' . . . " , . . ' , . .. . . . . . ,.:, T ~~ . .. ' . "'" . " . ' ' • ¦ : - ¦¦" ¦ 'V ^ .:: •; : ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦/¦ ¦' : ; -: '¦ : , ^ gm ^^ f / TT ^ l ^^\ Jm Pit Lit If
Contents
© ontents
Untitled Article
VOIi . VI . No . 269 . ] SATURDAY , MAY 19 , 1855 . [ Price Sixpence .
Untitled Article
NEWS OF THE WEEK— ' »»» Imperial Parliament . ' 458 The Sebastopol Committee 461 The War 462 Fall of a Shot and Shell Foundry in Southwark 463 The Presentation of the Crimean Medals 464 Execution of Pianori 464 Opening of the Paris Exhibition ... 464 Continental Notes 404 Naval and Military News 465
Health of London daring the . Week 465 Our Civilisation 465 Miscellaneous 466 Postscript 466 PUBLIC AFFAIRSNeither Peace nor War 467 The House of Peeresses 467 The Middle Class and the People 463 Tory Democracy ! 469 Modern Imperialism 469
The Non-coinmissioued Officer in the Mess-room 470 " The Stranger" in Parliament ... 470 OPEN COUNCIL" The Leader" on Mr . Silk Buckingham ' s Autobiography 471 LITERATURESummary 472 Baden Powell ' s Inductive Philosophy 47 a Westward Ho ! 474
THE ARTSThe Royal Academy Exhibition 475 The Opera 476 The Theatres of Paris 476 Olympic Theatre 476 Births , Marriages , and Deaths ... 477 COMMERCIAL AFFAIRSCity Intelligence , Markets , Advertisements , &c 478-480
Untitled Article
"The one Idea which History exhibits as evermore developing itself into greater distinctness is the Idea of Humanity—the noble endeavour to throw down all the barriers erected , between men by prejudice and one-sided views ; and by setting aside the dastinctions of Religion , Country , and Colour , to treat the whole Human race as one brotherhood , having one great object—the free development of our spiritual nature . "—Humboldt's Cosmos .
Mtm Ttf The Wuk
Jenm rtf tjje Weelt -
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), May 19, 1855, page unpag., in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2091/page/1/
-