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"HE DEATHS OF MR. WILSON AND SIR H. G. WARD.
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\rKRIT AND PATRONAGE. MERIT AND PATR ONAGE.
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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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But let us turn to his Majesty ' s literary productions . His Majesty , in the character of protestaat and historian , is certainly somewhat of a novelty . Indeed-we are not sure that it will . not turn out that he has developed a new species of satire , of which the novelty consists in the author being- the subject of his own ridicule . Let us turn to the view of recent events in Naples , as reflected from the mind of this enlightened writer 5 " The fortune of war" the royal historian says , " has proved contrary to us , " but this is not quite accurate ; the fortune of war cannot reasonably be said to prove adverse to him who does not fight at all , but turns tail and runs away , without however the slightest claim to that discretion , which is said to be the better part of valour , or the remotest expectation that he means to fight another day . " The whole of Europe , " he continues , " proclaimed the principle of non-intervention , and looked on ¦ with indifference , leaving us alone to fight against the common , enemy , " in which last regard his Majesty lias admirably shewn , the way how not to do it . But the " indifference" of " Europe , " by which liis Majesty may be presumed to mean a few dynasties who hold Europe in thraldom , proves at least one thing— -it proves that his cause was too bad even for his compeers to have a fellow feeling for him . But even the strongest sympathy with his intentions could , not have commanded assistance or countenance for one whose grossly illjudged acts were enough to damn airy cause which might by chance become mixed up with his . The royal doctrine of " blunders being worse thari crimes , " was well exemplified in his Majesty ' s happy career . We are reminded , for great : things will sometimes suggest little ones , of the sinking ship and the desertion of the rats . The barque of the Neapolitan . Bourbons is half way to the bottom already ; and directly . it began to founder , the rats began to sheer off , and wisely kept aloof . . There ... are some people so fond of joking > that they will crack jokes even at : their own expense . The Boukbon rule has been one great practical joke from beginning to end . One of the Bourbons is said to have died"witli a pun in liis mouth . ' Whether lie " never said a foolish , thing " or not , we are not sufficiently versed in royal biography to decide ; but that he " never did : a wise one , " is ' extremely probable . Now when , we find a potentate of King Bombauno ' s notorious antecedents writing after the following fashion , we cannot but think he possesses at least one valuable quality which , upon the principle of better late than never , lie is developing in the shape of a very original vein of comic humour—i-that in short he has turned satirist and taken himself for a subject- ^ -now that his subjects will no longer take him for their King * After promising to do in words what he has iiegativcd in deeds , his Majesty , it will scarcely be believed , declares his intentioii of " confiding in the loyalty and in , the love of his subjects " This is what Mr . Samuel Welleu would call " coming it rather powerful , " with a vengeance . But liis Majesty follows up this home thrust with the most terrific lunges with that formidable weapon which is to supercede the sword . For example , poor Victor Emanuel and Gartbai-pi will find all their labour lost , and all their efforts vain . His Majesty the late King of Naples , not content with discomfiting his foes in manner aforesaid , has annihilated their proceedings with one stroke of his pen . " We , " says the royal thnnderer—this Jutixkr Tonans of modern mythology , with all the oracular emphasis of the three tailors of Tooley-street , — " We declare solemnly that all the aforesaid acts and events are null and void and of no efFoct . " It has been hitherto supposed by metaphysicians that to undo what , lias been done , and to reverse the past , transcends the power of omnipotence itself , as it involves ono of those contradictions which amount to absolute and utter impossibility . Butjthia is a trifle with such a monarch as His Majesty the Into King of Naples . " Bagatelles ! " cries Sc ; ai'in ( whose " Fourberies " are so amusingly represented by Molxkki-:, ) as difficulty after difficulty is propounded for him to surmount ; and Soavin is a hero naturally suggested l > y the name of His Majesty the late King of Navies . So much for " protes t ation , " now for " proclamation . " From history his Majesty effocts a graceful and aisy ¦ transition to biography , without , however , relinquishing tlio ironical element . After initiating with an aphorism about the " duties of Kings , " ( which ho does not appear to liavo known much of , though ho is in the way just now to learn something ) , ' ho ' gives us . to understand that lie is'blessed with " resignation . free front weakness ; " and " with a serene and confident heart . " Tlrnti lie luis " resigned" wo all know , but that his " resignation" was " free from weakness , " is tho contrary of what' we know . With regard to its being all *• serene , " ho is tho best judge of his own feelings ; but how ho can bo at all " confident" \ vithout hoping against hope , and
evincing a most unreasonable degree of assurance , we cannot divine . This revelation of the state of the royal mind is very curious and instructive . To be serious . . We have waded thus far through these unexampled documents entitled ' / protest , " " proclamation , " " address , " &c ., most ill-advisedly put forth on behalf of the fugitive King . But impudence and effrontery , however ludicrous they may sound at first , from their extraordinary incongruity , become literally sickening- at last , and , after exciting- our mirth , begin to provoke our indignation . The following words necessarily suggest to the reader the poetical ideal of a good King , the father of his people , —an Alfred or a Troja , compelled by adverse destiny to withdraw from . the nation whom he had loved and watched over like his children , pronouncing his benediction as he retires , and followed by the heartfelt regrets of a people in mourning . But the incongruity of such utterances from one of the cruelest and most flagitious despots that ever outraged humanity by their demoniacal rule , is at once so ridiculous and so revolting- that we are too much moved by anger to laugh and too much moved by scorn and contempt to be angry . " The war , " says the king , '' is now approaching the walls of the city , and with unutterable grief I am now " to depart with a portion of my army to betake myself where the defence of ray rights call me . I call upon the honour and the civic feeling of the Mayor of Naples and of the Commandant of the said National Guard to spare this most beloved country of mine the horrors of internal discord and the disasters of civil wars , for which purpose I concede to the above-named the widest powers that thev may require . As a descendant of a dynasty that has reigned over this continent for 126 years , after having- preserved it from the horrors of a long viceroyalty , the affections of my heart are here . I am a Neapolitan , rior could"I-without bitter grief address words of farewell to my most dearly beloved people— -to my ;• fellow-citizens . Whatever may be my destiny , be it prosperous or adverse , I shall always preserve for them a passionate and affectionate remembrance . I recommend to them concord , peace , and strict obseryanceof their civic duties . . Let not an excessive zeal for my dynasty be made a pretence for disturbance . " Is it possible for hypocrisy , to go beyond this ? Yet is it possible for idiotcy itself to imagine it will impose upon the most simple-minded and credulous ? It seems that the late King has formed an exaggerated idea of the efficacy to be expected from that engine of superstition that had so- long been resorted to for keeping the people in a state of mental non-age . Intellectual , and moral , and social development will go on , just as Galuleo said the world would turn round , in spite of all that the wiles of priestcraft and the terrors of the inquisition can do to prevent it—rin spite of spiritual despotism and secular tyranny . And the regeneration of Italy is a signal proof that human progress cannot be permanently obstructed , even by the most determined and powerful opposition .
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Sept . 15 , 1860 ] The Saturday A ? ialyst a ? id Leader . 797
"He Deaths Of Mr. Wilson And Sir H. G. Ward.
"HE DEATHS OF MR . WILSON AND SIR H . G . WARD .
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SO ME of our . poraries seem mourn mum , as well as for Mr . -Jambs Wilson , whose death all parties will a «* ree to lament . Whether or not Mr . Wilsox could have carried his financial schemes into successful operation , will - admit of very considerable doubt , and so far as our Eastern Empire is concerned , it lost more from the compulsory resignation of Sir C . Trevixyan ,, than from the cessation of Mr . Wilsoo ' s labours . ' The decease of Sir H . G . Wauij affords another melancholy instance of the clanger which Europeans run , from the unhealthy climate ' of India , and there must be a strong sense of dutv , us well as a desire for gain , to induce any man of talent to trust Ins fortunes in the East , who can afford to stay at home , Mr . Wilson ' s plans did not comprehend uny measures for economising expenditure , and putting ii cneck upon extravagance and wuute . Some portions of his schemes being already in operation , must be sustained at any rate for a time but it would be well for the Government to start afresh , and place the consideration q £ tho whole subject of Ind'mn revenue , * expenditure , and finance , under the consideration of nu able administrative mind . In this work the chums of Sir Ciiaulhs Tki'vblyan should not bo forgotten , and noither Fiulm nor England ought to lose his valuable 8 ' 2 rvices ~ if ho is willing to render them— -for a niere question of ; etiquette .
\Rkrit And Patronage. Merit And Patr Onage.
\ rKRIT AND PATRONAGE . MERIT AND PATR ONAGE .
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rpHOBE who i , r «» k up » mooth fouAh . ojrew ^ thoug h thu . u JL load to destruction , nru not p » wni I vomrUm . « h > J ^ f ^ ExSSSS . ss . t
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 15, 1860, page 797, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2365/page/5/
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