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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 DISSOLUTION . The House that Falnierstpn built has been dis-. solved . The insecurity oi' the edifice "was foretold on the day that its foundations were laid ; for instead of resting upon any great or sound ¦ principle , the structure -was seen to rest on the mere surface-sand of personal and temporary expediency . ' It was in vain that the Liberal press—and , let us frankly add , the Conservative press ; likewise , in many instances —protested against the dissolution of 18 . 37 being taken on a single question of confidence in the then existing miuiJtc ' r . In vain every wise and patriotic man urged the propriety of placing before the con-. irian urged the propriety of placing before the conthat
stituencies groat principles of policy ; and regard should be had to past services and proven worth in the selection of candidates .. Every consideration was disregarded , save one—namely , that of packing a Parliament ' for the purposes of the Government of the day . The btist and ablest men were hustled and hounded down in the pursuit of tliispurpose , and its success for the moment scorned complete lint though the country had been made < lruuk fur a day , it could not he prevented from awakening sober on the morrow . .. A sense of returning reason and justice came , and gradually the wrongs done to individuals wore repaired , while a
spirit of tjclf-redrcHs ( miniated the 1 louse of Commons . Lord Pulinurston and his colloiigues , unmindful of the revulsion of fl-ulmg that liiul taken place , and presuming too far on the docility of the parliament they had maniiiueiured for themselves , provoked the mutiny of March , 1858 , whioh drove them from power . "( Since then u ministry lms boon allowed to hold ottice without the constitutional sanction of a Parliamentary majority ; and ( he rovard which the House oi' Commons hns this day received for its practical abdication of the right to decide who shuuld bo the councillors of the Crown , is its own extinction by the advice of tho men to whom it has shown such exectwivo forbonrnnco .
Why do we recur to those things now ? JJccausc wo are on' the evo of a general election ; and because we hope that , taught by tho bad example of 1857 , tlio eoiiMtitueiicicH will this time go and do otherwise . Between tho great hereditary factions iu tho state we have never professed to see that impassable gulf which violent men , whun worked up to rhetoric heat , are apt to declaim about . Wo have hud too much of mixing and mingling of parties ami cliques of lato yours , to render it possible for us to believe in tho sincerity of mere hustings vowh of antagonism . Wo have hocu Lord Jjohn liusguU sitting in the tuuno Cabinet with
Mr . Gladstone , and Lord Palmerston holding office tinder Lord Aberdeen . We have seen Lord Stanley invited to join the Cabinet of Cambridge House , and Earl Grey asked by Lord I ) erby to form part of his Administration . We have seen Mr . Sidney Herbert coalescing with Sir William Molesworth , and Lord Shaftesbiiry acting as the Lord Protector of a ministry of which Lord Clanricarde formed a part . What are plain men to infer from these things ? What can they infer , save this ?—that where the ¦ gratification , of personal ambition is at stake , the old distinctions of Whig and Tory are not suffered to prevail ; and that if we desire to see in the new Parliament a lai-ge
infxxsion of practical and popular strength , we must thrust aside the faded banners of old factions , and look solely to the principles -of national policy which the candidates who seek our suffrages are pledged to defend . We do trust , sincerely , that electors throughout the country will weigh well these things in time . We are on the brink of European convulsion . ; and we have to deal with questions of domestic change which are of vast importance , and which cannot with safety be further postponed . We want a vevy different sort of Parliament from that which Lord Derby avows his desire to obtain . In the speech from the Throne * her Majesty is made to declare that difficulties have arisen in the way
of good Government from the absence of party cohesion , among members of tlie House of Commons ; and Providence is importuned to interpose for the purpose of giving the present Government a < rood working majority . We cannot affect to say Amen to this Cabinet prayer . We ascribe the events that have tuken place during the . brief existence of the late House of Commons to very different causes from those assigned by the Premier : We are satisfied that the origin of the cause of the instability we have lately witnessed is to be sought for in the icant of independence tolerated by constituencies at the last general election—not in the
excess of that commodity in the Parliament which expires to-day . Had Lord Pahnerston been less secure of an abject majority , lie would never have trifled with " the obligations of patronage in the manner he rlid , and he would never have brought in a Conspiracy Bill at the dictation of France . Could Lord Derby obtain by any amount of skill an equally numerous majority , it would not avail to avert his full , if so be that he is still untaught and unteachablc on the subject of Reform . Nor would any amount of voting power he might nominally obtain at Westminster enable him to set ect
at defiance the opinion of the country with resp to interference by arms in the internal affairs or international quarrels of our continental nighbours . Everybody , now-a-days , calls himself a Liberal ; and it has become a household jest as to which of the two party clubs in Pall-mall is the Keform . But the people will have only themselves to blame if they allow hacks and impostors to scramble into the House of Commons this time . Let them press home upon candidates practical tests as to the foreign an < l domestic policy they will support , and take nothing upon trust , because men cnll themselves by this or the other party name . ,
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CONGRESS , OR NO CONGRESS ? As we foresaw from the first , it has proved almost impossible to agree to any terms as tlie basis on which a Congress is to meet . Again and again during the hist fortnight negotiations have appeared to come absolutely to a stand-still , and have been again renewed wilhspidcr-liko persistency by Lox'd Mnhnesbuxy flity l Count JJupl . It is hard to believe that any of * the leading statesmen who have taken part in tlie diplomatic proceedings referred to should entertain a sincere conviction that a
congress is capable of settling the Italian question . As far as words go , Austria , it may be admitted , has concedod all that could bo fairly expected of her . She has agreed to entertain the ( jiiostion of internal political reform in all tho Italian states , the permanent evacuation of Romo and tho Logat ions by foreign troops , and tho organisation of an Italian confederacy lor defensive purposes . Manifestly , however , it ' will be in her power to raise interminable obstacles in discussion to anything like an equitable settlement ot ' tiny of those questions . Even were not AuHtrian diplomacy proverbially shifty , it wore dangerous to reckon on any agroo * inent as to tho moaning of such propositions to which she must be a consenting party . Whnt
Picdrutont desires , and is pledged , if possible , to maintain , is the emancipation of . the . ¦ Lombards and Venetians from the despotic yoke of Vienna . Sentimentally and sympathetically , she may be as sincere in desiring political reformation in -Naples , Rome , or the Ducnies ; but everybody knows that her self-interest and her pride are involved in the Lombardo-Venetian question above all others , and that any ameliorations which leave it unsettled ; will fail to touch the core of the great controversy . So long as a German viceroy rules over the Milanese in the name of a German emperor , Italy will be discontented , and Piedmontese politicians will conspire . They now conspire in cabinets and salons and military councils ; and their confederatesstrange though it be , and hard to realise the fact' — sire the absolutist rulers of Russia and of France .
Between the two latter there has sprung up an ominous intimacy and good iinderstanding . They have their ow-ii objects to gain , by the humiliation of Austria : but who in his senses can believe that anvportion of those objects is the-pqliticalemancipapation of Italy ? As for English diplomatists , it is pretty clear that beyond the procrastination of war , somehow or anyhow , from week , to week , they nave no definite plan or purpose at all . What , then , can come of a Congress but waste of time and talk , infinite intrigue , interminable dispatch writing , and the utter disappointment ' of speculators for the rise on every Stock Exchange in Europe .
Our only wonder is , that M . Cavour should have ventured to commit himself , even in the vaguest generality , to the principle of disarmament . Unless lie can contrive to make the people who trust him understand that in reality he never expects to be called on to fulfil'the engagement , the mere announcement of such an undertaking would be sure to prove fatal to tlie retention of his influence and power . lie has a wonderful knack of playing best friends
this sort of double game ; but his cannot help . fearing that he will one day founder , like one of the fast-sailing boats so well known to the shores of his country , in an unsuccessful attempt to tack ' in a sudden squall . We wish him a better fate ; we ; admire his courage and adroitness , and we make every allowance for the perils and perplexities of his position , but we confess to many misgivings as to the result of the sham Congress , said ' to be , about to meet for tho settlement of Italian affairs .
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LORD WARD AND DUDLEY . Lohd Ward has never yet learnt the simple lesson , that notoriety is not fame : The talents of Alcibiades excused his eccentricities ; but an Alcibijides without ability , in a day when Alcibiades ' were out of date , would be very much what Lord Ward is now . As long , however , as the Lord of Dudley contents himself with his proper sphere , acts the Mecamas of admiring mediocrities , wields with varying favour the destinies oi the
operatic world , and confirms abroad our national character for foolish eccentricity , we are perfectly willing on our pnrt to pass over his vagaries with their 'most fitting comment , continued silence . Unfortunately , his lordship is misguidod enough to seek for fresh laurels on other fields . Wearied , we suppose , with the bows of rival managers ami the smiles of prhna donnas , and the flatteries of artists , Lord Wtird has of late
turned his mind to politics . A public career is , of course , open to him , as to every other man of wealth and station . In the race of politics , the noble millionaire would start with an enormous vantage . Tho ordinary method , however , by which honours and power are sought and won , is too common-place and laborious for so universal a genius . Lord Ward aspires to become a pohtionl power in the state by a simpler mul lodb arduous process . He seoks to fill the character ot tlio Member-milker . From his large estates iincl | W-~ i » on » Q wealth , he exercises an almost overwhelming inllucnce in most of tho Worcestershire and jStTiflbrdshire election * . If thin influence were nvn . f . l 1 . » w ; n . nilt / in one direction , it nugnt Do
,,, combated or ufc least diminished ; but a * A . oiu Wurd ftimonru to entertain » supreme indineroncc on tho subject of political prmcip oh , and wields his authority on one slUo or , the other , ^ ordmg to the passing cajinoo or interest ot tho hour tho woi- 'ht of his mlhwneo thrown into one si'de or the other practically decides the elections . Tho localities more especially favoured by tho peculiar patronage of Lord Ward are East Woroesursliiw , South Stftilurdshire , Kidderminster , and
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OFFICE , ' * NO . 18 , CATHERINE-STREET , STRAND , W . C .,
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NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS . No notice can be taken of anonymous correspondence . WTintevor is inf . on . ded for insertion must be authenticated by " he nnnio and address of the ¦ writer ; not necessarily for publication , but as a K-uarant . ee of Ins g-ood taitli . U is impossible to acknowledge the ninss of letters we receive Their insertion is often delayed , owinp to a press of matter ; and when omitted ; it . is frequently from reasons quite independent of tlie merits of the wmmumoation . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications .
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SUBSCRIPTION TO " THE LEADER " ONE GUINEA PER YEAR , UNSTAMPED , PREPAID . ( Delivered Gratis ) .
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1 ^ 0 . 474 ^^ 11 , 23 , 1859 . ] THE LEADER . 529
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SATURDAY , APltll , 23 ,. 1859 /
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There is nothing-so revolutionary , . . . because there is nothing sounnatural and convulsive , a * the strain to keep things : iixed when all the world is by the very law of its creation in eternal pro » Tvsss . —l > n . Auxglu . . — -o- . . .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 23, 1859, page 529, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2291/page/17/
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