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    REVIEW OF THE WEEK. A

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    ^ri ^jal iM Jgtiijjtw, Mtt' l emrii, rai...

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    No. 12,-New Series.] LONDON, SATURDAY, O...

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    There is the appearance of a serious qua...

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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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    Review Of The Week. A

    REVIEW OF THE WEEK . A

    Ar00103

    ^Ri ^Jal Im Jgtiijjtw, Mtt' L Emrii, Rai...

    ^ ri ^ jal iM Jgtiijjtw , Mtt' l emrii , rail Ct-iipfe Cjpitirle .

    No. 12,-New Series.] London, Saturday, O...

    No . 12 ,-New Series . ] LONDON , SATURDAY , OCTOBER 30 , 1852 . [ Price Pourpenoe Halfpenny .

    There Is The Appearance Of A Serious Qua...

    There is the appearance of a serious quarrel arising between America and Cuba . A quarrel between the governments of the two countries . There was danger enough in the lone Star movement , and more than enough in the aggrandizing spirit of the people and the recklessness of hordes of adventurers , but if the government is fairly brought into the dispute , and that too , on the eve of a Presidential election , it is hard to see how a conflagration can be avoided .

    The present danger arises in a great measure , out of the high Landed conduct of the Captain-General of Cuba , who , without thinking of his defenceless position if America really should appeal to arms , seems to provoke a contest . Mr . Smifii , purser of-the United States steam-ship Crescent City , labours under the suspicion of communicating information to the New York journals , and bearing

    to and fro treasonable correspondence . On a former voyage Mr . Smith was not permitted to land at Havannah , but now more stringent measures have been had recourse to . The Crescent City itself , hearing mails and passengers , was signalled from the port , but the Captain persisting in going in , was boarded—told that he would not be allowed to communicate with the shore , and ordered off . The

    Captain requested to be allowed to land the mails and passengers . No , that would not be permitted . He must go , and at once ; and so further parley being useless , the Crescent City steamed away , her passengers unloaded , and her mail bags unopened . This , which looks like a prevention of all intercourse between the two countries , was of itself enough to set the Union in a ilarae ^ but that was not all . "It never rains , but it pours . " The American

    merchant-ship Cornelia , was nearing the port when the authorities got a scent that something contraband was on board . The vessel was stopped and overhauled . A man named Guzman was found with some treasonable letters ; another , named John Hearkness , an engineer , was attempting to leave the country without a passport , and they , together with the Captain , were taken to prison . The

    Cornelia ' s mail bags were opened and searched , and some letters abstracted . The Captain was subsequently released , and proceeded upon his voyage , while the authorities , acting upon information contained in some of the letters they had seized , arrested some members of distinguished families , for the crime of sympathizing with the late General Lopez . ,

    One of the letters was the means of a good practical hoax being played off at the expense of the Captain-General and his staff . It announced that in a vessel , the name of which was given , were arms and ammunition for the Creoles , packed up like ordinary peaceful merchandise . The vessel was anxiously looked out for , and taken possession of as soon as she made her appearance ; but lo ! the arms were not there . It is difficult to describe the excitement which these events have

    caused in the Slates , ^ ery other , man at least looks bowie knives , and talks revolvers . " Indignation Meetings" of 10 , 000 people are got too-ether . It would be too much to expect indignation meetings to be ° calm affairs , but these are terribly indignant . Everybody seems to talk at once , and to talk furiously besides and the only

    wonder is that these gatherings do not resolve themselves into armies and rush , en masse , to the approp riation of Cuba . . Of course , m such a state of things as this , the government of the Republic cannot remain unmoved . It is said that a special envoy is to be despatched to Cuba to require reparation for the oivtrage to the natW flag ; and what between the readiness of the Yankees to come do blows , and the stubborn determined pride of the Spaniards , we may

    tiffftffi i Jewell ' sLo ^ s expeditio , AsoHtary ship has arrived , and has been earned off by a ? e ™ J ™ - of-war ; and there she was still cruising about , waiting for tW advent of Commodore M'Auley , to present to that officer ^ e ^ ordinary letter which Mr . Webster did ^ send to the Commander of the Meet , and has since repudiated . w „ Vprin < r The chances of the coming presidentid ekction w ^ SSS ' The Webster party is again making an effort , but ^ 5 f ^*^ to give the e 4 ticforei gn Secretary a chance All **«* £ » to diminish the probability of the success of General oU , ^ acquired the soubriquet of the American ^^ "J ^^ The General is making desperate exertions to secure us ^ tui n , a 1 ^ is using means which do not quite accord with our notion , of B pub toincorruptMity . &*<™?^?^^ TZ \^ lE staff , ostensibly for the purpose of selecting a s > te « * + mihtay ^ itlbuteallVfor the of laying the , * n » p ^ « £ iui i i «

    pa , r purpose p puai , ouu reauy «* c «" r- ~ - * , n ^ oiminn - t : ^ 7 S ^ tt ^ m ^ he to completed * pro ^ eTWl . er , to y *** ° * ? "" »*< toseem Wghteningupoutoftlie squabbles of lusmals . The question of Cuba , to which we have already adverted wfl , rf it come to a crisis , assume a fornudable aspect , ooked ^ fiom «« ^ f **^*? jttA ££ Z pean powers , whom some sort guaidiucctu cxa \ vn „](\ he possessions . Sunk , as she is , in the scale of P ^ f ™ ^ Lble to defend herself from the young giant oyer « k *^ £ she would call upon her allies for assistance ^ i Engla ^ wo « ld b prompted to give , not only from respect to treaties , . ^ out ot com Lil jealousy of America ; and France , because it would exercise

    There Is The Appearance Of A Serious Qua...

    its naval power , gratify the passions of a warlike people , and bring with it little or no danger to the coming empire ; so that we may find ourselves involved yet in a quarrel , about which the people of this country do not care , and with which they have no real concern ; a quarrel , too , which would be distasteful to freemen , because whatever its cause , it will really be one for despotism of the old world against the comparative liberty of the new . We have this week a new era in the history of reporting . Till now , the announcement "India—The Overland Mail—By Electric Telegraph , " has appeared in the one morning , and the details have

    followed the short abstract on the next . Now it is changed . Thought rushes along the wires of the electric telegraph from London to the head of the Adriatic . While the mail is dragging on from Trieste , we have a glance at the news here . It appears that General Godwin has at length been woke ; and , abandoning his intention of following the old tedious route by which our troops marched upon Ava , and without waiting for the rainy season to terminate , or more troops to come , has committed his aged person , and a picked brigade of troops to the guidance of Captain Tarleton , and gone up to Prome in a steamer . Prome , itmav be recollected , was taken before , but

    abandoned , because Captain Tarleton was not authorised to make conquests . The consequence will be , that the \ river , before undefended , will bristle with cannon . Stockades will be / thiown up—pits dug , and troops got together to defend the town ; and what was done before easily , and almost without blood being shed , will now have to be done over again at the expense of life . No , doubt our troops will beat their opponents , but the need for the said beating ought not to have existed ; and we only hope that that done , the old General will not relapse into his lethargy , but push on to Ava , and terminate the war at a blow . Even then , our difficulties will be only half over , for it is

    one thing to conquer the Burmese and another to make them pay for being conquered ; and we may , as an Irish mode of getting compensation , have to add to our already overgrown empire a province which will cost us more to keep than it did to . win . There is less to be recorded of Prance'than when his Imperial Highness was making his progress through the South . We hear little of the Marseilles infernal machine , which having served its purpose , has , we suppose , been sold for old iron . There are , however , some arrests in that place , and an account of them furnishes a glimpse of the systematic mode in which Republicanism is sought , to be identified with crime . We are told that the' other -day twenty-five operatives ,

    who had formed themselves into a secret society , were arrested . They went to a solitary unoccupied house—got'drunk—roared out sanguinary pass-words—sang revolutionary songs—erected a gallows , as the symbol of their faith , and plundered all they could lay their hands upon . These are held up as a fair specimen of the Republicans . If it be not ail exaggeration , as is not at all unlikely , there is no more pretence for classing such ruffians with Republicans than there is . for t with

    taking the refuse of the Thieves' Kitchen and associating hem the English liberals . The Republicans are honourable men , who were onlv too good and merciful to retain power . They are not criminals . They leuTthe crimes of theft of the liberties of a people , assassination of citizens , and perjury to " the Elect ^ of Prance . " But when we remember that our papers classed Chartists and pickpockets together , we can hardly wonder at Louis Napoleon and his creatures adopting tactics so congenial to their nature . the si

    As the day for the assembling of the Senate approaches , gns of Imperialism thicken . Eagles multiply in a way that shews the amazing fecundity of the breed , and imperial crowns so abound , that if all . were worn , hats would go out of fashion . The flag is lowered or raised in kingly fashion when the usurper , quits or enters his palace . " Vive la Uepubligue , " the said Republic Iieing dead , and its successor ready—is " open and advised speaking . ? Copper coins are being struck at the Mint , bearing on one side " Napoleon III , Empereur , " and on the other " Empire Francais ! \

    Meanwhile the eagle sits lonely in his gilded cage , and cannot find a mate . So he is looking out for an heir . It is currently reported that the son of the Prince of Canine is the favoured person , but the Emperor has not spoken , and no one can anticipate the utterance of the oracle with certainty . There is less chance than ever of the Pope coming to Paris to grace the coronation .. He does not love his Prench protectors , from whom he would willingly escape ; and apart from his own disinclination , he woukVexeite the jealousy of the Austrian jmperor by such a step . The declaration of the Empire will he marked by a protest from theCount de Chambord , but the infatuated Bourbons cannot unite , even to protect , and the elder and younger branches of the house will stand isolated in that feeble effort .

    Pears of the press are peeping out . Not the newspaper pressthat is effectually gagged , but books will ; somehow creep in . Pour persons , one of whom only—an employeh the Ministry of the Interior—was convicted , were prosecuted for distributing Victor Hugo ' s book " Napoleon the Little . " Other seditious works are about , and among others , the police are making , an active search for one entitled « The Crimes of the 2 nd of December , ' ' r-- ^ e day of crime . Leavino-thesebject , weturn with disgust from the spectacle of o-enius prostituting' itself to usurpation . ; Rachel , the actress , who declaimed the praises of the Republic , has apostrophized the coming Empire , and deified the to be Emperor .

    Symptoms of discontent are appearing in Croatia . The Emperor ' s Journey there , was far from satisfactory ; for the people , who are m a state of abject poverty , instead ; , of hailing him with cheers , greeted

    There Is The Appearance Of A Serious Qua...

    him with petitions . It is said that a general drove the crowds of "loving subjects" away with his drawn sword . Russia is busy exciting the discontent to a still greater height , and endeavours to serve her aims by allying the most popular men to Russian women . An intrigue of that kind , intended to entrap Jellachich , failed ; but an effort is making to promote a similar alliance tor ] the leader of the Servians , Pl'llCoift 1 C mnlr ! n /» n . mnm . ' . J . I ^^ -ft ,.. . Li .-. Ji ~ r . ~ l .. l . i-.- - 0 IT . . Tl ... 1 t irussia is making preparations for the dissolution of the Bundand

    , is making ready to draw a line of custom-houses round her German frontier . These hindrances were not so much felt when railroads were unknown ; but now every railway train will be stopped in transitu , and quick travelling rendered impossible . A Prussian envoy—Baron Arnhein-Blumberg—is appointed to proceed to Plorence , and use his utmost exertions for the release of the Madiais . Intelligence has reached London that the Abbe Gioberti , whose prominence in Italian politics during the years 1847 and 1848 our readers will not have forgotten , has just died at Paris at lhe age of 45 , of a fit of apoplexy .

    Ireland presents us with one of those murders which seem the naturd produce of the country . An agent has been shot dead , as he was riding home with a friend early in the evening , and a Protestant clergyman has heard the slugs whistle , but we should say that they were aimed at him in his character of landlord .

    Heralding the Religious Equality Conference , there is an enormously long letter from Mi . Bright . Mr . Bright propounds a scheme for the settlement of the question . He says capitalize the propertygive * every Romish priest 10 or 20 acres of land—behave liberally to the episcopalians and dissenters , and apply the rest to secular education and other objects . John , of Tuam , will accept Mr . Bright's help to get rid of the Established Church , but we guess he will not accept Mr . Bright ' s plan for dividing the spoil .

    Among our home news , politics do not occupy a very prominent figure . We get very slight glimpses of the ministerial plans—only the leaders know what is to be done , and they perhaps only dimly . The subordinates are clearly all wool-gathering , and eking out their ignorance with the odds and ends of shiftiness and imbecility . The national party for the ballot , propounded by Mr . Collins , of Hull , petted by Mr . Hume , laughed out of countenance by the Times , and then snubbed by the veteran Joseph , is clearly out of the ring . It is still-born , and the political conjuror cunning enough to give it the breath of life , is not forthcoming . The crimes of the week includes the committal for trial of the brute

    who attempted to murder his mistress near Yarmouth . The committal of the four prisoners who were concerned in the fatal duel at Egham , when the unfortunate Capt . Cotfrnet was shot . The commission of a barbarous murder upon an old man and woman near Stafford , and the condemnation of Cannon , who has acquired such a ruffian-like notoriety . Sentence of death is recorded against him . He will probably be transported for life . We ) have to record another dispute between employers and workmen . The shoemakeis are complaining of their grievances , and not without reason . Some of the employers in a time of brisk work , without any plea except that of " competition " which they produce

    themselves , have tried to reduce the already miserable pittance of the men . The workers resisted this-, appealed to the trade , and waited upon the masters . Some of the masters agreed not to lower th & wages , others would agree to it , all would , but all would not , and so the dispute went on . At last , the employers appointed twelve of their number , " aboard of trade , " and this board set to work to screw the men in earnest—advertisements were put out for men to do cheap work , and open war was proclaimed . In this strait the men have held a meeting , and seem determined to do their uttermost , now that briskness of trade makes their labour wanted , and gives them a chance of success , it will , we suppose , end in a strike , which will produce ruin on one side , and suffering upon the other *

    We do not deprecate strikes when they can be made successful . Even with all the chances against them , they are often the only means of defence the workman has left , and to which he resorts when endurance becomes impossible . " But progress towards real power will never be made , 'till the workmen do something towards forming a national union ; not of one trade only , but of all men who live by wages . Then , indeed , they might set tyranny at defiance and do something better still , raise themselves towards independence . The true remedy is to be found in such a combination as will be

    effective , not only for resistance , but for political action , and social co-operation . If the workers will only set themselves to work to do that , or earnestly aid those who would do it for them , they might not only claim with a loud voice their fair share in the government of the country , but ensure fair wages in the present , and comparative independence in the future . The masses , powerless as each individual may be , would become , if united and organized , the greatest power in the world—a power , before which class laws and social tyranny would be swept away . like chaff—but isolated , either man by man , or in small groups , they are pitted against each other , beaten down , and defeated in detail .

    We shall be too glad to lend our aid in any way that can be pointed out—publicity and advice we can afford the men , and if anything else is in our power , we are too deeply interested in the contest of Iright against sordid wrong , of poor labour against monopolizing wealth , to allow us to hold bacVwhen our co-operation can be of service

• Citation
  • Northern Star (1837-1852), Oct. 30, 1852, page 1, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_30101852/page/1/