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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.
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THE LEADEE .
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MINISTERS Lave achieved a victory at the very outset of the campaign : they have put into the Queen ' s hands a well-written speech ! Truly we live in an age of wonders ^—an age in which almost everything appears to oe possible ! The . speech is a good speech ot its kind ; a kind of speech that gives nothing for opponents to lay hold of , at least nothing for them to lay hold of violently . On the two great points , Parliamentary Reform a ' nd the question of war ; the speech is trimmed with remarkable nicety : it neither affirms nor denies that war on the Continent is imminent ; and as to Reform , it is spoken of as " an amendment of the laws relating ta . the representation of the people in Parliament , " and the only comment made on it is that her Majesty prayerfully desires that , whatever happens to be done in the matter , may be done so as to secure the stability of the Throne , the maintenance and improvement of the national institutions , and the general welfare of the people . Not a word more ; not the faintest hint of a bill on the way . The Reform paragraphs are placed last in the speech , as if the subject had been remembered at the eleventh hour and referred to in a flying postscript ; but Lord John Russell took nothing by pointing out that fact , for Sir John Pakington reminded him that the subject occupied exactly the samo place in the present speech that it did in the speech of 3832 , when Lord John himself was Premier . - As for the bill—we have Mr . Disraeli ' s word for it—it is prepared ; but , said the Chancellor of the Exchequer to Lord Pjilmerston , " you'll be disappointed if you expect to sec it before the First Lord of the Admiralty has made his statement . " * ' There will bo no unnecessary delay in its- production , " says Sir John Pakington , " because there is no unwillingness ; " so that , before long , * the man who has made himself more renowned as an oi'ator than as a statesman , " will hnvo his work before him . Other measures of Reform arc more unreservedly referred to in tho Royal Speech . Two or moro bills , are to bo brought in by tho Government for assimilating and amending tho ^ Bankruptcy and Insolvency Laws ; and for classifying crimes and ofleucos in , England and Ireland , with the view of bringing them into one sot of statutes , with such modifications as experience may have auggeatod . Another reform of great importance is to bo effected for enabling owners of land in England to obtain * or themselves an indefeasible title to their- estates and interests , and for registering such titles with simplicity and security . Perhaps there is at present no greater burden upon land than that whioh a pointed out bj tUa proposed , remedy j the impetus
which such a reform will give to the development of agriculture , by enabling the possessors of doubtful titles to raise money upon perfected security , is incalculable . ; But though the Royal Speech has held its way through , the ordeal of Thursday evening ' s debate , the men who drew it up received several very significant warnings of the sort of fight they have to prepare for . Lord Palmerston , " eager for the
fray / ' let fly several hard hits even while sparring ; and Lord John Russell , wliile keeping himself cool and collected , let it be seen that he means to come down heavily upon the Ministerial Reform measure , if it is not what he thinks it ought to be . He warned Ministers , too , not to be putting off the subject ; for though the House will wait a reasonable time , there is one . man in it , he said , who will hardly be able to ¦ restrain , his impatience . Mr . Bright did not offer to . dispute this statement .
In the meaii time , there is little doubt that Ministers will get the money they want for " the reconstruction of the British navy . " However strong the wish may be in this country to keep out of war , the wish to place at the disposal of Government such a steam navy as -will afford at once security to our shores and weight to our diplomacy will be equally strong . Out of the House , where , for the present , the question of Reform is debated with a surprising amount of general agreement , more schemes than
Mr . Bright's and the Times ' s have been put before the country . . The last and most noticeable of these is by Sir Culling Eardley-Wilmot . It is not a new scheme , but a revision of a scheme published by him years ago . At once conservative and progressive , it is built upon the principle that " there is a party now superior to all "Whig or Tory thraldom —that of the nation . " The inhabited house ( with somo reasonable guarantee of respectability and responsibility ) is tho basis of his franchise ; he holds
tho balanco very fairly between the urban and the rural populations , and one part of tho scheme is specially worthy of consideration j it is that which provides for tho cession of tho ballot to constituencies in whioh three-fourths of the voters demand it , Nothing can bo moro rcasonablo than this solution of tho ballot-cUfnoulty ; it would givo the ballot a fair trial without plodging the country to its general adoption , unless experience should prove tho advisability of ( hat course .
IYom abroad wo have , first of all , daily good accounts of the health of the Princess Frederick "William with that of her son . From tho Ionian Islands wo have news which , if not startling , is very grave Tho Parliament has oomo to a unanimous determination to declaro for tho union of tho Islands with Groooo . Thoy hnd gone so far as to resolve that a commit too should be appointed to concert the best moans for eil ' ooting the wishes of the Parliament , when n message from Mr . Gladstone
warned them of the illegality of their proceedings , and advised them to content themselves by memorialising the Queen , and they appear to have taken his advice . But difficulties are plainly thickening , and a solution will have to be found speedily ; in the meantime , the appointment of a soldier to the office of Lord High Commissioner does not promise very well . The news from the Continent has , for the most
part , reference to the war question . The newspapers of Austria , France , and Germany speak of peace , some of them as if it were perfectly secure ; but at the same time , Austria , France , and Piedmont are arming for war . During the week it has become known that large quantities of saltpetre have been purchased in London by the Sardinian and French Governments , to be delivered in Sardinia . There is not much care taken now to disguise , the position of Fiance . Piedmont will not strike the first blow ; but if Austria should be provoked to strike the first
blow , the most fervent wish of Victor Emmanuel will be realised , and the fight will begin , France being ready and willing- to back her little ally . If rumour may be credited , France will not be the only active ally of Sardinia among the great Powers : it is said that the King is about to remarry , his future queen being the Grand-Duchess Maria Nicolaicwna , eldest daughter of the late Emperor Nicholas , and widow of the late Duke of Leuchtenbcrg . Meantime , our own position appears likely to be encumbered by the trammels of diplomacy Lord Malmesbury , letters from Turin inform us , has addressed a despatch to the Piedmontcse
Government , condemning in strong terms the attitude assumed by it towards Austria , and regretting this proceeding , " inasmuch as it must be followed by conduct on the part of Englaud which it will become his duty to recommend . " It is to be hoped that no time will be lost ^ . kinging this fact , if it is a fact , beforo Parliament ; fox * . ; nothing can bo more [ unwarrantable t ) uMx IVe assumption of such a tone o * l the part of tho English Cabinet , amounting as it does to a menace . Count Cavour is reported to have returned a most dignified answer to Lord Malmosbury ' s offensive communication .
But while Sardinia and Franco await eventualities ' , Austria devotes herself to tho raising of a new loan . Proposals for borrowing another 5 , 000 , 000 / . arc in tho market , and on torms that are far too liberal to bo worth acceptance Austria , with a bankrupt treasury , an enormous army at homo and abroad , anxious to fight for tho maintenance of her military despotism in Italy , goes begging for gunpowder and cold iron . Sho will take 80 / . for every 1 Q 0 / . nominally advanced , and sho will pay intorost at tho rate of 0 $ por oent ,, with a sinking fund to make the alluromont complete . But tho answer is only too ready ; to furnish Austria , with tUc meana of making war is to
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REVIEW OF THE WEEK- ™»« Home Intelligence . Imperial Parliament 164 Political Foreshadowings . 165 New Members of the House of Commons ¦ ...-... » 166 Repeal of the Paper Duty ... 166 The Wellington College :.... 166 Gatherings from Law and Police Courts .... ; .... 160 Criminal Record 107 Ireland ; ............ ..- " ¦•••• . •••¦ I 6 " Charitable Contributions ............ 107 Naval . and Military 167 Accidents and Sudden Deaths ...... 168 Miscellaneous 170 Postscript 175 Foreign Intelligence . Continental Notes .... 188
America 169 I South American States 169 i Canada - 170 Australia 170 | Mexico 170 | Cochin China 170 , LITERATURELiterary Chronicle of the Week . 171 ] Man and his Dwelling-Place ...... 171 ; Tales from the Norse s 172 ;¦ The Old and New Testaments ... 172 ' A Financial History of England . 173 , Lost and Won 173 ; Social Innovators 173 The Three € lerks 174 , Magazines - ¦ 174 Mary and Other Poems 175 Traces of Primitive Truth 175 The Newspaper Press Directory . 175 !¦
| Books Received 184 PUBLIC AFFAIRSThe Queen ' s Speech 177 Offensive Trades .. 177 Plans of Legislation . .. ; 178 I The Austrian Loan 179 Biographies of German Princes . 179 ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCEFrarice 180 Germany .. ••» 18 « Hamburg ; ..... 181 FlME ARTSMiscellanies 182 . THEATRES AND ENTERTAINMENTSCovent Garden , Drury Lane , and Haymarket Theatres , &c . — 183
| INDIA AND INDIAN PROCRESSColbnisation in Madras 185 The Isthmus of Kraw . 185 Notes on Indian Progress 185 West Indies 186 The State of Mexico 186 Brazil 186 COMMERCIALInsolvency in the United States —Credit 187 General Trade Report 187 Home , Colonial , and Foreign Produce Markets 188 Railway Intelligence 188 Joint-Stock Companies 188 London Gazette 189 Shares and Stocks 188 Money Market and Stock Exchange 190
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 5, 1859, page 163, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2280/page/3/
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