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    Untitled Article

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    Untitled Article

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    Untitled Article

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    NAPOLEONIC TACTICS.

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    3IETllOrOLITAN 310MU)- OP WORKS. ¦

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    Untitled Article

    hrvHE Government of Xapoleox III . may do good things as J [ well as bad things , but it has no capability . Tor . ' siinple , straightforward , . intelligible conduct ; : Its foundations \ yeve laid in unv . eracity , and its superstructure does no discredit to its cornerstoiic . A little whileago a London journal predicted that spine attacks would be made upon England in pursuance or orders from head-quarters , and accordingly-we were accused of inciting the insurrection in Sicily , and the Carlist movement in . Spain . If we compare these attacks with those which occurred at an earlier date , we notice a diminution of virulence , and , after they had served their purpose , a remonstrance from our ambassador caused an official communication to be sent to the Pay * and the Tatrie , in which the " imputations against a neighbouring power " were called " lamentable , " and the papers in question weie informed that " they ought not to have accepted these imputations , knowing-that thev were devoid of authenticity . "

    The fact is , the * French Government is in the habit . provoking animosity against -England by way of a . counter-irritant whenever Imperial sehemes ' roquire ' suc . h a diversion , and as an apothecary- removes a blister when he thinks it has done its work , so the ' Napoleonic practit ioner withdraws his international canthrirides plaster as . soon as the cuticle of his patient has been sufficiently disturbed- Such a plan is not honest , and may one d ; iv end in producing more inn animation than is required , and it has , taste for recrimination

    moreover , the characteristic , of exciting a and scandal that it may not- always be convenient to gratify . There are states of society in -Ay-Inch making accusations first and withdrawing them afterwards , damages the reputation and inniience of the person so acting ; but where a genuine public , life is iiot permitted to exist , there is a probability tUafc the slander will Vo further arid live longer in men ' s minds than the retractation , and this is why we regret that the Imperial information manufactorv . should ' so often be employed in producing a fraiidulent

    article . But we do not argue , from these incidents that an important separation ' of French and English interests must necessarily occur . In both countries there are parties who dislike to witness an extremity of friendship , and whenever the Emperor rinds himself accused of leaning too much towards England , lie orders the Gallic cock to utter a qiierulous or a threatening " Cock-adoOdle-do ! " In England we have parties quite as mischievous as the Anglophobists of Prance , and they get what they want said iu the newspapers , without ' troubling the Queen" . or the PRiNCE-CbNSQitT to drop a communication ia the editor's box .

    and contempt . Whatever may be its defects or collisions with other . European . Powers , there is reason to hope that England will be far less dissociated from France as an empire ; , than . from France under any form of Bourbon misrule . It inay prove well for the ultimate interests of Europe that a strong arid dexterous Government should exist oil the other side of the channel , which is bound , for its own safety , to lower the influence-of the Ullramontanists and the Pope .- The Holy Father cannot forgive the seizure of-the papers he had intrusted to M . Vkuillot , nor is the exposure of the plots of the Vatican . likely to soothe the mind of the occupant of the Tuij'eries . In the Papal quarrel , however , as in other things , the Imperial Government plays a tortuous course , and , by sanctioning the strange . act of LajiobiciEhe , he gives his enemy an able general in exchange' for the maledictions which Pro Xo ^ o is pouring forth-. There is , 'however , policy in this . ; and LamouiciEiik ia encouraged to lose his character and reputation , just as Odillo . v BauuOt was victimized at au earlier date Imperialism is a gainer when France is taught Jun despise and ' distrust- her public men ; and the spectacle of . ft republican general acting against the liberties of Italy is ¦ ¦ weft '" calculated to produce this eifect . In a few ( lays ,, universal , suffrage , worked . according to the Imperial patent , * will have obtained . the predetermined vote from Savov .. Trickery and coercion will prevent the feelings * f the inhabitants of tin ; Swiss valleys from expressing t . lieirx ^ v ^ eal ^ thoughts , Having cleared away all justice and right , the grouncT will their be free for an act of grace , and it k not improbable that Nap . ol . eox . 111 . may think it worth while to purchase laudation by the- prudent step of conciliating ; I lie Swiss , who might he dangerous cue ruies if forced to abandon their neutrality ami seek safety in an alliance with the German str . tes . AVe may also look to the forthcoming pamphlet -for a further - exposition of _ the programme for 18 ( 3-1 . ; according to . report it will threaten to bnlani \ -i the ¦ nationalities against any monarchical coalition-that is likely to occur . . . Next month Quakers-are in season , and peace principles , will resound from the . platform of Exeter Hall ; but the country is more . likely to i > ay attention to the ' Take care of your pockets " alarm given by the Duke or . CambIiiug-e at the Easter Mohdiiy Mansian . House mixture ' of war and turtle . His lloyal 'Highness recommends a '' judicious lout ample expenditure" for the . safety of our island . Tax-payers may be sure--it-will be " ample , ' and every tiling : is "judicious " that adds to the patronage of the Court the Jobbery of departments , and tho depression of merit to make wav for rank . -

    The merchant and speculator groiv weary of the uncertainty that hangs over foreign affairs , and which continually proves a hinderance to business , and checks the ardour of t rade . It is always easy to get up a cry against letting France grow too powerful , and douiiriate too much over mundane affairs , We do not take upon ourselves the function of prophets ,. because , judging from the past , great movements have usually the character of a surprise , and such movements are possible at any moment ; but we have reason to believe that an , occasional difference of opinion between tlie two countries is precisely what the French Government wants in order to flatter the national vanity by an

    appearance of independent and autocratic action . Y \ e are therefore ready to imagine that when the Swiss or other difficulty has served its object , we may . find it susceptible of removal without any particular harm being done . The French empire wns itself a surprise , and it lives upon surprises and states of bewildering expectation . If the French were not always expecting- that tlie lessee of their Imperial theatre was on the point of bringing , out a new piece with startling effects , they would endeavour to become managers themselves , but they are content to be spectators so long as there exists enough ' prosperity to supply bread , anil their rulers furnish the circus games .

    Napoleon HI . is like Mettjeuxicu in being too jenlous ot rivals to give any prominence to able men , mul were it not for an occasional exhibition of public spirit by the bar , France would bo apt to forget that a pcoplo can have any other relation towards its Government-than that of being cither its tools or its slaves . Looking to the importance of any dignified protest on behalf of freedom , it is gratifying to see the way in which tlie bar of Paris and fourteen other cities have espoused the cause- of Emile ' Oluyimi ; and although the Court of Cassation has

    stink'deeper into disgrace by rejecting his appeal , there is son ™ hope for the future , when Government usurpation-in courts of law is strenuously condemned by all the principal lawyers of the land , ^' o trust the day is not far distant when France will become an object of imitation for civil liberty ; but , in eontemj ) latjmg tho faults of the Empire , we cannot forgot that the elder Bouiuions lnu ' u proved themselves the unscrupulous enemies of liberty of nil kinds , while the Chlbaxs branch worked'the constitutional system-so disWnestlv , us to bring- it to destruction

    Untitled Article

    A HILL to . confer increased powers on the . Metropolitan Board of Works has been prepared under the direction of that body , printed , and privately circulated , previous to its consideration in 'Parliament . The degree of publicity t , hus given to the designs of our legislators for London , as well as the pressing importance of the subject , renders any apology superfluous from us for directing early attention to tin ; subject . ' Questions of the utmost practical moment arc raised'by thu contemplated intension Bill . Tho act , under which the ^ letropolitan Board was called into existence three years ago , was oonffssi . 'illy aiu experiment , it may possibly be said that it is too sooii to cull for public judgment on th « , cuujstion , wlicthiT or iiot that expi' - rinicnt has succeeded ; but if those to whom its conduct has'been

    con tilled insist upon a verdict , they must abide the issue , lew persons outside the narrow circle in which Messrs . 'Tiovaitks , Tite , and Company live and ' move and have their Mrtropnlitnn being , ctm dbubt what that verdict will be . As ¦ ndnunisinitors , the past cairtrr of tliti Board lins been eharrictowml l > y un ineptitude and ineftieiuney painfully surprising . As linaiu- 'ii / rs they have contrived to earn for themselves the reputation of l ) i . ing unequal taxers and public wastrels . As a corpora to body tluy have comi } to be regarded as about the most precociousl y aeooni " plis'hed job-ocracy going , in this judgment the imilir ? eeniii ) U ' public will of course be told by its Guildhall tax-masters that it js entirely in tho wrong . . 'bili g eri ' eo , they will ho told , wns never more exemplars ' , or disjntt'ivstedness more trailspareiu tiiiiu

    that of the existing Board . If hardly anv minor improvement are to be s-hown tor tlio vast resources nuule available 1 ' ^ r nu'tropolitun purposes generally , it is bueause those resources ( ire beiiisc hoanlud frugally to meet the requircmeuts of the lnngniiu'C'iit ( lesions for seeuVing the health nudjpomfort of unbuni ^ 'ncnitioii ^ by the heavy taixnt'ion of this . And when sonic ( iuvruloufs entit exclaims , How about the estimates ?—ho is met with the m ]» - paiit reply , that a wide disparity between tenders for htr ^ v pubm ' oontracts ' is a fact fami ' liav . in railway undertaking- , «« "l " ;¦ Others of like magnitude : —a reply tmleuhitod to jirovoke i- 'eruiin sharp' rejoinders , rather than to sileneo grove ini ^ ivm ^^ But wluue \ cr junv have been tJio Jo ^ -ieal process by wlneli tin '

    Untitled Article

    $ 44 The Leader and Saturday Analyst . [ Apuii , 14 , 186 . 0 . ¦

    Napoleonic Tactics.

    NAPOIiEOJsIC TACTICS .

    3ietllorolitan 310mu)- Op Works. ¦

    METROPOLITAN BOAm ) OF WORKS .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), April 14, 1860, page 344, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2342/page/4/