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Tomahawk (1867-1870), 5th February 1870, Edition 1 of 1, Page unpag, TO THE RESCUE,

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      I I The Tomahawk. A Saturday Journal Of ...

      I i THE TOMAHAWK . A SATURDAY JOURNAL OF SATIRE . 0

      No. 144.] London, February 5. 1870. [Pri...

      No . 144 . ] LONDON , FEBRUARY 5 . 1870 . [ Price Twopence .

      To The Rescue,

      TO THE RESCUE ,

      No One Can Accuse Tomahawk Of Partiality...

      No one can accuse Tomahawk of partiality towards Napoleon , by the Grace of the Army and the coup d ^ tat , Emperor of the French . Many have been the times that the Child of the Prairie has levelled his weapon at the Monarch on the other side of the water . He has done so because he has regarded

      that Monarch as an usurper and a tyrant , because he has remem-| bered the grape-juice of ' 51 , and the grape-shot of ' 52 . The champagne for the troops , and the bullets for the people . Power that is worth its weight in blood must be jealously watched , hence has it been that Tomahawk has been numbered among

      the bitter enemies of Napoleon the Second and a Half ( the King of Rome was not more than half a man—if so much ) . Still , moderation is a virtue , and the Noble Savage declares , once and for all , he is no " Irreconcileable . " He will praise Napoleon 1 for his good deeds as quickly as he will revile him for his bad .

      And as it happens of late the French Emperor has been particularly worthy of applause . At a time when Napoleon is giving France her liberty , and rendering her more than ever worthy to be a neighbour of dear old England , a clique of men have risen with hatred in

      their hearts , and lies on their lips . Men who will stop at nothing short of their own paltry aggrandisement , their own miserable glorification . These grasping ungenerous intriguers forget that their accession to power would be as ridiculous in the eyes of the world as the sight of a skunk decked in jewels—as

      disastrous as a pauper madman armed with absolute authority . Tomahawk contrasts the two parties , let the public decide between them . First take Napoleon , far nobler in name , and infinitely nobler in character than his paltry opponents . Forgive the coup

      < V 4 tat—and much is forgiven to success and the Second Empire has been very successful—and with what crimes can he be blamed ? Can we in England blame him for being our firm ally and fast friend ? Can we blame him for fighting side by side with us against the Russians , the Chinese , and the

      Mexicans ? Can we blame him for tying the two nations in a true lover ' s knot with that best of bonds , commerce , and £ s . d . ? Can we blame him for his loyalty to our interests , for his love to our institutions ? At the time that he took the reins of power into his own hands a war with England would have been one of

      the most popular measures for the French . They were jealous of our prosperity , they hated us for our peace , they loathed us for our creed , for when Christians do fall out their animosity is ( as of course it should be ) simply diabolical . Napoleon had L . t ^ . . . ..

      come to the throne on the strength of a name—a name inseparably associated with war and hatred of the Engli ; h . Surely the temptation was great . Waterloo had to be avenged—had not the man arrived who had the best claim to play the part of avenger ? And what did Napoleon do at this crisis ? Why ,

      himsel him wrote for himself f the his loyalty bitterest down ? of our And our firmest what enemies rig friend ht ! has Shall , instead France Engl ; of to nd blame proclaiming then blame him ? What was her condition twenty years ago ? What is her position now ? She was emphatically in 1848 a second-rate

      power . Humbled to the dust in 1815 , she had never recovered her lost status . Her king was a puppet in the hands of unwise ministers , her power a farce , her very name a mockery . When the Prince de Joinville blustered about an invasion of England , we didn ' t arm—we didn ' t dry our

      powderwe had not the time ; every spare moment was given up to laughter ! And now , if an invasion were talked of , we should not tremble , but we should grind our swords in lieu of cracking jokes ! When Napoleon came to the thron . ? , France had scarcely any commerce ; now she rivals England in her trade .

      When Napoleon came to the throne there was no Government in France worthy of the name of rule ; now she is as free and as well governed as her British Sister . Napcleon is a great ruler , an able author , a successful general . It is not flattery to say that he is the first man of his time .

      And who are his enemies ? and what are their actics ? Nameless scribblers , who find food for slander in lies— -food for malice in the pure life of a good and noble lady . Not hing is too base for their use . Let the weapon be sharp , and poi soned , and they care nothing for the dirt upon the handle . Ungenerous as

      cowardly reptiles attacking children , they give no quarter to the weak—know no courage in the face of the strong . Contrast Napoleon at Solferino and Rochefort in the Champs Elysdes , the first facing the shells and swords of the best army in the world , the other turning pale , and " fainting , " at the sight of a

      handful of police—the ^ first supported by an inferior force to that opposed to him , the other shivering at the head of one hundred and fifty thousand men ! And it is " warriors " like Rochefort who would overthrow the greatest Empire in Europe !—taking advantage of the meanest

      accidents—making trade of the sins of others to pull down " their warriors maste " r ; ( in sell every their sense relig of ion the for word the app ) from lause his 0 * throne a score !— of free-thinkers , and are overcome with a fainting fit at the sight of a bare sword ! „ _ - - - ¦ - ¦ . ... ¦ , , * . . . . .. .

  • Citation
    • Tomahawk (1867-1870), Feb. 5, 1870, page unpag, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/t/issues/ttw_05021870/page/1/