On this page
-
Text (4)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
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
Dowwng-stteei . Why , then , did he make that indiscreet ; speech at Slough . ? For a very clear reason-It was an election address . He knows , and Ms colleagues know , that it -would be vain to attempt governing for long with tie present House of Commons . Therefore , reckless of censure in that House , they appeal to the cotmtry . And some of . their cries would be very telling , if their assertions cotdd be substantiated . It is a very fine thing to say , " We are for peace and yoix are for war ; we are for justice , and you for piracy : we are
merciful , and you barbarous ; we sustain the honour of the country ^ and you truckle to foreign powers . " Lord John Hussell pronounces the word . " falsehood , " and is not called to order ; Lord Clarendon tells the right honourable gentleman that he has made a statement containing ¦ " not a particle of truth , " and Lord Pahnerston contradicts him in language peremptory enough to be insulting , and yet the Chancellor of' the Exchequer bears it all meekly , with a hope in his mind that audacity in Buckinghamshire may beget a little enthusiasm elsewhere . He does not choose
to wear the Osbome muzzle , and lie has a perfect right to make what he can out of his position . We imght assist him , we think , in working out the process commenced at Slough . At the Foreign-office there is— -so we once heard from . Sheffield , where possibl y the ark vas made—an iron strong-box , containing the evidence of Lord Palmerston ' s perfidious compact with Eussia , for which he received , through the hands of the Princess Lieven , an AJaddin ' s lamp in the shape of a blank draft upon the imperial treasury . How is the time for the Urquliart statesmen to prove their charges . Let Mr . Pisraeli discover , break open , and search that bos , produce that document , and expose his enemy in the House of Commons , and Lord Palmerston
having received such a , shot in his hull , will sink to rise no more . What if discretion be offended ? We want to know what Cambridge House is built upon , and Mr . _ Disraeli must be smitten with what the poets call immortal blindness , if he fails to confound the Whigs altogether . It may be , however 3 that the whole story is a fiction—that the black box has no more existence than that of Habbakuk Sallenbacha , and in that case we' will not go so far as to instigate a forgery ; even for the satisfaction of seeing Lord Palmerston ' s invectives retorted Tipon himself in a less airy style than from the barn in . Buckinghamshire . Half the week has been wasted in one stupendous squabble , and half the session in another . Perliaps the House of Commons when it has fought its duels will settle to business .
Untitled Article
GOVERNMENT OF THE ARMY . The House of Connnons has resolved that " the Departments of the Horse Guards and War-office should be placed under the control of one responsible Minister ; " but the Government has decided that " no measures shall be taken in connexion with that r « solution either in . or out of the House . " The Peers have found it necessary to givo way when the House of Commons insisted upon the Jew Bill ; it remains to be seen whether her Majesty ' s Ministers , wielding only a minority in the House of Commons , can defy that body with more
impunity tlian the leers have done . There can be no doubt as to the motives which dictate opposition , to the measure contemplated by Captain Vivian ' s motion . General Peel , who had formerly been in favour of consolidation , has discovered in . office that there are practical" reasons against ifc ; and many others admit that " theoreticall y" Captain Vivian ia right . The enlightenment which General Peel has acquired on entering office , and which obtains him credit from sonic older officials , is due to the consolidated opposition which all find who enter the precincts of the HoTse Guards , or of any of our most exclusive departments , against all kinds of change whatsoever . The official mind is in antagonism to improvement , and any statesmen who enter office for a time discover that it is absolutely impossible for them to carry on their ' daily business creditably , aud at the same time to act against the foroc which is put upon them by the permanent officials . The Horse Guards do not intend to be submerged under the War Department , and that is enough for any Cabinet holding its position by a precarious tenure . In this fact we ace one evidence against the common notion that a weak Government is the best instrument of reform . Besides the departmental ground of resistance there is sin aristocratic motive . By the late motion the purchase system has been virtually deoided . Military men , thoso who are connected with high
families , and Redtapists generally , have decided that the system of purchase shall be maintained for several reasons , hut principally for these : —First , there is a species of consolidated fund formed by the vested interests of those who have purchased commissions , and any Government for the time being would be reluctant to engage in the trouble of . raising the money in order to . abolish the purchase system by buying up those commissions which have been purchased- No doubt a loan could do it . and even if the amount . were added to
our ' permanent Stock , the public would profit . Next , the purchase system , keeps the commissions in the Army principally to the governing classes . Thirdly—and this is the most important , reason- —it materially contributes to keep society in the messroom " select . " It is quite true that there are in the Army men not of cultivated taste , refined manners , generous feeling , or temperate habits ; but while the purchase system contributes to draw wealthy men into the Army , while it operates as a fence against " the mob , " it collaterally assists in keeping up those expensive regiments into which the very " highest" class of officers can direct their
own promotion , and thus it aids the upper classes of the Army in distributing its commissioned society so as to send the more ¦ * ' low-lived" to Africa ^ the West Indies , or any other disagreeable station , while the " distinguished" form agreeable parties of their own at the messes of the select regiments . Trust the management of the Army out of the hands of its own military Commander-in-Chief , cease to separate it from civil control , and who would answer for the maintenance of this pleasant system ? .-, ' . ¦ .: This purely military view is strengthened by the sympathy of the * ' Conservative "—a word we use in a broader sense than its customary application to Parliament , for there are reactionaries on both sides
of both Houses . The working ' . ' . of modern civilization and its police restraints has been such as completely to divorce every people of Europe from the profession , bearing arms . The result has been the formation of an armed class distinct from the nation , but at the service of the Government , and peculiarly tinder the exclusive control of the Court . England is no exception to that most unconstitutional divorce . liow , Captain Vivian ' s motion , placing . the Army directly under the control of a Minister responsible to Parliament , would be the first step towards . reuniting the armed class with the great body of the people represented in the House of Commons , and restoring the theory of our Constitution a little more to practice .
Untitled Article
TESTS FOll LIBERAL MEMBERS . " Eob the present , " said Lord Macaulay in 1832 , " I am perfectly Avilling to allow other persons to have infamy and place ; let us have honour and the Reform Bill . " The existing Ministry is not infamous , so that these words do not exactly apply ; but something like Lord Macaulay ' s meaning is applicable in the midst of " the chaos of unanimity " —to employ an old Quarterly p hrase—in which the progress of . time has involved us . Men arc in office who arc not traditionally or by sympathy Reformers . What , then , is' the duty and interest of the Liberal party ? To drive them out of place , and restore the " obsolete oligarchy ? " Ear from it . Tlic Liberals have a great opportunity , and they could not lose it more ignobly than by obeying without hesitation the signals of Cambridge House . Let the followers of Lord Derby have place awhile , and <( let us have honour and the Reform Bill . " The Ministers arc not Tories ; Toryism , as a rallying cry , is no longer in existence ; but , notwithstanding that all sectiom of the House of Commons are agreed in favour of somo change , at least in the details of our Parliamentary constitution , it may still be assumed that , when the question approaches its settlement , the old line of demarcation will again become visible , and that the Reformers Avill iind an opposition . The general acquiescence now avowed is not altogether beneficial to the cause . " If Peel is violent , " said Lord Brougham , on the first night of the great debate of 1832 , " the victory is ours . " In the yielding olement of universal assent , the llcform principle makes little perceptible way ; but , during the present session , there lias been a consolidation , a strengthening , an advance of the rcalLibcral party . Their importance lias become manifest ,. They have ljccn solicited from both sides of the House . They have marked with their brand the military organization of the country . They lmvo led the Whigs into the movement for abolishing the property
qualification , and next week they willlmve two field days in the House of Commons . On Tuesday M _ " Berkeley willbring forward his ballot motion- ' and on Thursday , Mr . Locke King will procee d * with his bill for extending the county franchise . jSf ow there are four hundred members of Parliament who call themselves Liberals . How many of these wj \\ vote for Mr . Berkeley and Mr . Locke Xing ? IJotv many will stand the test of . the ballot and the teapound franchise for counties ? The division lisfs of Tuesday and Thursday will be of some value at ( Innext general election .
There was formerly in existence a society winch gave very great offence to the Conservatives . It was called " The Parliamentary . Candidate Society " and \ vas established , not indeed to provide candidates , but to supply the public with " information respecting : all" persons who appeared in that clmractci , giving , if they had . previousl y been in t ho House , epitomes of their speeches , lists of Oicuvotes , and , generally , a history of their political careers . Mr . Roebuck , - \ rlio has described its organization , believes that it never iniluenceil aii election ; but this must have been because it
worked feebly , or in . a false direction , since every one must recognise the possible .-effect of such an association directly addressing the body of voters throughout the United Kingdom . The press , however , may bo said to compensate for the absence of the old political societies , aud the constituencies will , no cloubt , be put in possession of all the knowledge necessary for them to determine whether their representatives have deserved well of them . Hitherto , nothing could have been more aimless , timid , and fcebfe , than the conduct of the independent Liberals , considered in the ajrgrcGrate .
They have displayed neither unanimity nor courage , and if they would go any way towards fmulling the pledges of the hustings , they must support th \ Berkeley and Mr . Locke iLiiisr , not only by attendance and . by votes , but by absolute debate . Frequently Reform motions , after being attacked by the Whigs , arc suffered to fall through-without " a word of sanction fr om the professional patriots below the gangway . Since Lord Derby ' s accession , lioweveiy there has been a good deal of restless activity among the Liberal members . But this is ' attributable not
aloue to their consciousness that a dissolution , 'is pending , but that , for •' good or-for . evil , the House of Commons , as constituted by the Reform Bill of 1832 , must shortly close its accounts . TJic Reformed Parliament onco more feels itself to be the Unreformcd . It is confused , hesitating , and perturbed ; There is no possibility of carrying-any great Reform measure this session . Even it" IMr . Locke King ' s Bills fo r abolishing the Property Qualification arid for extending the County 1 ' raiicliise were to pass into lav , they would be but instalments , or rather anticipations , of a general Reform to come , while the Ballot motion will lie of
value principally as a test . The Whigs evince no disposition to adopt it , and the only hope of-the independent Liberals is so . far to swell the minority as to give them a claim to be consulted when the provisions of another Bill arc considered by Lord Joliu ltussell and the other members of ihc old Whig party . In that light the discussions of the approaching week will "be most important , and it is anxiously expected that Reformers will \) u in their places to support their principles .
Untitled Article
SIR WILLIAM PEEL . The saddest item of the late news from Tail ia is that which relates the death of Sir William Peel ; he died of small-pox at Cuwnporc , on the 27 th of April . It is said , on the authority of his i ' niher , the late Sir Robert Peel , that he made Nelson his model , and sought to emulate the achievements of the groat sea-chieftain ; the brilliancy of his short career shows with what chance of success he aspired . He was every inch a sailor , or wither he realized entirely the popular idea of a thorough sailor . Prank , brave , tearless , those who knew him best say it was impossible not to love him ; and bow generally ho was beloved may ho guessed from tlio accounts wliich reached England of the distress ol his men when he wis wounded at the singe ot Laicknow ; many of them wept like women , He was the llurd and favourite son of tlic ^ 'i' - ^ 'r Robert Peel , and was born in November , IS 2 k At fourteen he entered | , lio navy as midshipman , ana xyns present , at the , sicg « of St . Joan d'Acre , when he first smelt powder burnt in an per . After goingin the Cambrian , under Captain Chads , to th « Churn
Untitled Article
542 v THE LEADER . [ No . 428 , June 5 , 1858
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), June 5, 1858, page 542, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2245/page/14/
-