X '-ior, the Black Prince, the Defence, and the Resistance ; without taking into account that the Admiralty is engaged in encasing with iron twenty ships of the Une which, after undergoing this transformation, wiU be set apart for the defence of the coasts. The Duke of Somerset has, besides, given the assurance that serious consideration, had been bestowed upon the idea of a " cupola ship," suggested by Captain Coles as far back as 1855, and which had remained for a long time hidden away in official pigeon-holes. Experiments have been made as to the efficiency of the cupola, a sort of shield, and its power of resistance, and have proved most satisfactory. Lord Pal merston declared, the day before yesterday, that the vessel about to be built according to Captain Coles' theory is con sidered as the best adapted for the purposes of the home defence. AU this, surely, is calculated to restore equanimity. And yet, such is the importance henceforth attached to floating batteries constructed upon the new system, that it is in that direction Government is urged from aU sides' to concentrate its resources. Last Friday Mr. Osborne formaUy demanded in the House of Commons, " that the construction of the forts at Spithead should be suspended until a more ample examina tion had been made as to the efficacy of iron-clad gun-boats to insure the security of our ports." WhUe Mr. Bentinek, going beyond Mr. Osborne, asked that Government should be authorised to apply to the construction of iron-clad vessels, or to the transformation of wooden ships into vessels of this kind, the raoney voted for the construction of the forts. It is thus not only wood which is under discussion, but stone likewise. And those who, like the Secretary to the Admiralty, Lord Clarence Paget, are stUl of opinion that forts may be good for something, have no chance of making themselves heard except by giving iron revetments to the 12 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. waUs. "The order of the day," said the Convention, "is Victory." England now says — what unhappily comes to very nearly the same thing : " The order of the day is Iron." The suspension of the works belonging to the erection of the forts has been promised by Lord Palmerston, far too clever a man to swim against the torrent. Such is the present position of affairs. In the middle of this nineteenth century the civilised world is occupied, and pre-occupied before all other considerations — about what ? — about giving colossal proportions to the power of destruction, to the power of subversion, to the power of slaughter. Science is placed at the service of that fancy which seizes us from time to time for cutting one another's throats, chUdren of Cain that we are ! Does science chance to discover an impenetrable shield, straightway it is requested to invent an instrument which shaU reduce this shield to powder, in order that death may not be disappointed ! There are people who say to j'ou, with a smile on their lips : "Let be: man's genius has not uttered its last word; the further we advance, the more wiU men be endowed with the gift of slaying in a grand manner." A charming perspective, this ! But may I not, perchance, be complaining of what I ought to regard as a matter for congratulation ? For, after aU, what proof in favour of war can be drawn from this struggle of the Cumberland against the Merrimac, against this marine monster made, indeed, by man's hand, but to which man furnished in the combat nothing of that which constitutes the courage, the heroism, the honour of the warrior, where man, in fact, was invisible ? What "glory" will there be to be gathered from war, when w^ar becomes nothing but a shock of machines, when the engi neer displaces the leader of men, when victory becomes a question of mechanics ? War is more and more unper- sonaUsed, if I may coin an expression. So much the better ! When the engineer shall be everything and the soldier nothing, the time wiU be at hand for the recognition of the fact that the engineer may be employed to better purpose than that of exterminating human beings, and the " poetry " of battle wiU have disappeared. Montaigne observes: "It is the quality of a porter, not of virtue, to have* muscular arms and legs : it is a quality dead and corporeal." Montaigne says SIR WILLIAM ARMSTRONG'S GUN. 13 this in speaking of that kind of warfare in which the pre ponderance of brute force allows the victors to dispense with the necessity of heroism and with proofs of valour. To what sort of quaUty, I ask, was the Merrim-ac indebted for being able to annihUate in ten minutes, and without incurring the slightest danger, the heroic crew of the Cumberland, unless to "a quality dead and corporeal?" What has hitherto con tributed to perpetuate warfare is, that its horrors have been partly masked by the display of the personal virtues requisite for victory. Let science take exclusive possession of the field of battle, and farewell to what is named, from the miUtary point of view, the Glory of the Conqueror ! What can be imagined less poetically hideous than manufacturing ingenuity appUed to destruction ? But there is yet another lesson, not less consolatory, to be derived from the combat in Hampton Roads. For several hours together the Merrimac and the Monitor pounded away at eaeh other with right good ¦s^'Ul without doing the slightest harm to one another. It well . nigh happened that the fight lasted, without bloodshed, until the ammunition was exhausted. Science thus avaiUng to neutralise science, war wUl slay war. LETTER LXIII. SIE WILLIAM AEMSTEONG S GUN. April lith, 1862. Gloet be to the genius of progress ! Man's life is no more safe to-day than it was a month ago. The science of attack, in matter of warfare, has recovered over the science of defence the legitimate superiority which is its due. I was right when I said that it would not be long before an engine of destruction would be invented capable of bringing to reason aU the Merrimacs and Monitors in the world. Since my last letter, civilisation has taken a long stride. Only a few days ago people were talking with admiration of an iron ship that had ripped up a ship of wood. Well, there is now a gun that is ready to blow in pieces the iron ship that ripped up U LETTERS ON ENGLAND. the ship of wood. Sir William Armstrong comes and says, " Upon my word, the question is a very simple one. When you make use of powder, you cannot use too much of it. Why did the Monitors guns fail to produce any effect? Because they were charged with only twelve pounds of powder. Here is a gun of my constructing which will take a charge of forty, of fifty, pounds of powder. Let us try it." Thereupon, the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of Somerset, Lord Clarence Paget, Admiral Grey, Commodore Drummond, Captain Sir J. D. Hay ; in short, the flower of the war de partment and the cream of the admiralty proceeded with pomp to Shoeburyness, the official field of phUanthropic expe riments. In front of the gun in question a target was erected, a faithful copy of the sides of the iron-clad ship, hitherto declared invulnerable, the "Warrior, and the signal was given. When the worthy Dr. GuiUotin, in explaining to the Con stituent Assembly the essentially humane character of the machine to which his name has remained attached, exclaimed, in a transport of enthusiasm, " With my machine I wiU cut off your head in the twinkling of an eye," great was the hUarity of his audience. It was so comical, before it became tragical, that idea of cutting off your head in the twinkling of an eye, by way of phUanthropy ! But it is not one head, but hundreds of heads, were they even protected by a waU of iron, that Sir WiUiam Armstrong's gun wiU topple off, and in the twinkUng of an eye, too. On this point there cannot be a doubt. The experiment at Shoeburyness is decisive. At the first discharge the thick target was seen to fly into shivers. Sir WiUiam's gun treating the iron with no more ceremony than if it had had to deal with glass. Civilisation, therefore, is once more restored to the right path ; gunpowder preserves its glorious privilege ; and death maintains its rights. , But aU has not yet been said. The genius of attack has spoken ; it remains to be seen if the genius of defence will not find a reply to make : it remains to be seen if mechanical inventions, preservative of human life, wUl not succeed in neutralising, in the exact sense of the word, mechanical in ventions directed against the Ufe of man. The Merrimac and the Monitor fought together furiously for hours without any definite result. Why ? Because in this combat of one SIR WILLIAM ARMSTRONG'S GUN. 15 machine against another, the power of defence proved mathe- maticaUy equal to the power of attack. What reason is there for supposing that this most desirable equaUty wiU not in the end be the result of the developments of science, when directed in preference to the end indicated by the more and more marked ascendency of commerce, the more and more cosmopolitan influence of manufacturing industry, and the propagation of the principle of the human brotherhood ? That, in the coUection of general causes which are tending to snatch from the hand of war its sceptre of brass, mechanics should play only a secondary part, is what may be expected ; but where is the reason for supposing that this part will have nothing in common with the tendency of minds and the logic of interests ? If, as appears to be the opinion of one of our coUeagues, the new inventions, by neutraUsing one another, are likely to end by bringing things back to the condition in whieh they originaUy were, what are we to think of the advantages of science ? The movement given by it to humanity would, in that case, far too closely resemble the movement of a squirrel in its cage, and would amount to much ado about nothing ! As to the effect of mechanical contrivances in_ their applica tion to warfare — so long as war shaU exist — it would, doubt less, be a mistake to suppose that they wiU leave no room, speaking in an absolute sense, for the thought that directs and the courage that executes ; but wUl there be no change in this respect in a case where the superiority of a given con trivance should irresistibly decide the victory ; in a case where the machine should to a great extent take the place of man on the battle-field, as it so frequently does °in the work shop ? The part which thought and courage had to play, in consequence of the construction of the Merrimac, resulted, for the Cumberland, in a radical impotence, or, to speak more correctly, in the pure and simple impossibility even of fighting. And to what proof, I ask, was the courage of the saUors on board the Merrimac submitted ? In this affair the only thing we have to concern ourselves about is the honour due to the constructor of the machine. But this honour belongs to the department of industry, and not to that of war : — an important alteration introduced into the aspect of things. 16 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. However that may be, and to return to the experiment at Shoeburyness, — this has so completely restored the con fidence of the English, that, passing aU at once from the cares of murderous strife to those of pacific rivalries, they have begun seriously to bethink them that the Exhibition is to open on the 1st of May. Let us foUow their example. LETTER LXIV. THE INTEENATIONAL EXHIBITION OF 1862; PEEPAEATIONS. April 15th, 1862. The Great Exliibition of 1851, as you wiU doubtless remem ber, remained open for five months and a half. The number of exhibitors amounted to no fewer than 13,937, of whom 7381 were English, and 6556 were foreigners. For reasons which it is no easy matter to guess, England this year will furnish only 5000 exhibitors; but, on the other hand, the foreign countries taken together wiU furnish 17,000. This latter total is thus made up, according to the informa tion which I have thus far been able to obtain. The Ust is not yet complete ; but, such as it is, I hope you wiU find it sufficiently interesting : France, 4000 ; the ZoUverein, 3000; the new kingdom of Italy, 2000; Austria, 1400; Spain, upwards of 1100; Russia, close upon 700; Sweden, 600; Holland, 400; Denmark, 300; Greece, 250; Norway, 300 ; Rome, 46. France, as you wiU observe, occupies in this list a position worthy of her, and Italy — Rome being stiU the city of the Pope — makes an exceUent figure in it. Add to this, that in this grand review of the industry of the entire world, China and Japan will have 35 representa tives; Guatemala and Montevideo, 34; and Costa Rica 11. In a word, 100,000 articles wUl be exhibited. And the visitors ? In 1851, the population ofLondonbeingthenabout2, 300 000 souls, the total number of visitors amounted to 6,039,195. i^ THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, 1862 ; PREPARATIONS. 17 1 862, the population being 2,800,000 souls, it is expected that the total number of visitors wiU not faU short of eleven miUions. And this calculation is a very modest one. In fact, it must be remembered that of the six miUions of individuals attracted by the Exhibition of 1851, three miUions were brought to London by the railways. Now, in 1851, there were not above 6755 miles of railroad open for public traffic, whUe to-day there are 10,300. The administration of railways, besides, has made a notable progress since 1851. Companies have learned what are the profits to be made by return tickets and excursion trains at reduced fares. Is that aU ? By no means. Since the last great London Exhibition, the Continent has been furrowed all over with new lines which did not then exist,i and which have brought it closer to England. Steam brings America and Europe into contact at much less expense and in much less time. The chain of lines which now unite New York, Boston, Portland, and Quebec, is triple what it was in 1851. The distance between London and India, if measured by time, has been diminished 25 per 100, and the distance between England and Australia by 50 per 100. In other words the world has grown much less and mankind 'far more nimble. There is consequently every reason to hope that the number of guests wiU be in proportion to the sumptuousness of the banquet. And truly this wiU be very fortunate for the adventurous subscribers, upon whom would faU the burden of the outlay in the event of the Exhibition happening not to cover its expenses ; for, in what concerns the financial arrange ments, the plan adopted is exactly the same as was foUowed in 1851. A Commission has been named, composed of Earl GranviUe, the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, Sir C. Wentworth Dilke, and Messieurs Thomas Baring and Fairbairn. This Commission has been empowered by a Royal Act, entitled, " Charter of Corporation," to borrow from the Bank of England, to the extent of £250,000, whatever sums are necessary ; and to guarantee the reimbursement a subscrip tion was opened and immediately filled up. One of my friends, whose fortune is by no means extra ordinary, subscribed for £2000 with as much indifference as IS LETTERS ON ENGLAND. if he had been securing a box at the Opera. The English, it must be acknowledged, do things grandly, when they set their minds to it. Not that the danger, after aU, is very great, the nett profits of the Exhibition of 1 85 1 having been £200,000. One might take courage with less. Still, when we con sider that those who consent to incur the risk of the guarantee will not touch a farthing of the profits of the enterprise, if there be any, and that they expose themselves to loss without hope or desire of gain, seeing that any surplus balance is to be appropriated to an object of public utility, we are bound to render homage to such patriotic disinterestedness. This disinterestedness, this patriotism, so completely belong to the part they have to play, and are considered so natural, that they do not even receive, as an acknowledgment of their good will, a free pass ! It is within my knowledge that some of them having asked for a ticket of admittance, were answered : "When people are generous, they must not be so by halves. To subscribe after this fashion for several thousand pounds implies the possession of a fortune, and a rich man may weU pay his three or five guineas for a season ticket." It is superfluous to state that the Commissioners, on their part, have nothing to gain in the way of money as the fruit of their labours, their functions are perfectly gratuitous. At the time of the Exhibition of 1851, Sir C. Wentworth Dilke, who was then simply Mr. Dilke, very nobly refused the sum of £5000 which was offered to him as a return for aU the trouble he took and all the time he sacrificed to the accomplishment of a public duty. Sir C. Wentworth Dilke, by the way, is the proprietor of the Athenccum-, the best accredited of all the literary journals of this country. It is not alone for the International Exhibition of 1862 that the palace which is at this moment the glory of South Kensington has been constructed. It is to serve for aU future exhibitions — international, colonial, and others. How ever, the question of determining if the building which has just been erected wiU be allowed to remain, wiU depend upon certain financial arrangements which may possibly not succeed. But, in truth, if this building be destined to perish so much the better. Gigantic it is — one cannot deny that ; but, what a strange THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, 1862 ; PREPARATIONS. 19 architecture ! I admit that the nave and the transepts are 100 feet high and 85 feet in width ; that the nave is 800 feet long, and each of the transepts 635 feet long, including the domes ; but that is not enough to make an elegant building. The dome of the Pantheon being 142 feet in diameter and 70 feet high; that of Brunellesohi at Florence being 139 feet in diameter and 133 feet in height; that of St. Peter's at Rome being 158 feet in diameter and 263 feet in height, I am perfectly willing to own that the two domes with which the Exhibition is loaded, or rather overloaded, are the two largest that architecture has ever produced, seeing that they are 160 feet in diameter, and 250 feet in height ; but do these colossal proportions prevent them from sinning against every law of taste and proportion ? To make the lid of a saucepan an object of art, would it be enough to give it proportions in conformity with the appetite of Gargan- tua ? A few days ago the Times published a letter in which a Frenchman related, in the style employed by Frenchmen who know just enough of EngUsh to write it grotesquely, how a smaU shoeboy of his acquaintance had pronounced upon the Palace of the Exhibition this terrible sentence : "Dam ugly." Solomon, I am willing to beUeve, would have expressed himself more correctly, but he never rendered a more equitable judgment. I need hardly tell you that the pre tended letter of the pretended Frenchman was written in the Times office by an Englishman, a perfect master of his own tongue. This little pleasantry has, as you may well imagine, excited a good deal of merriment in London, and the mot will undoubtedly survive. " Dam ugly " is a frontispiece, cut and dry, for the Palace of the Exhibition. But how came Captain Francis Fowke to be entrusted with the task of designing this monument ? One would be strongly tempted to say to him, after beholding this proof of his talent for architecture, "Bather be a mason, if your caUing is in that line." Captain Fowke, I believe, was far advanced in the good graces of Prince Albert, and it is possible that the blindness of friendship — but let us not disturb the ashes of the dead. However, the Palace of the Exhibition, whether handsome or the reverse, seems to be endowed with a strange power of attraction. As I write these lines, on every road leading to 0 2 20 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. it there is an interminable procession of trucks, waggons, vehicles of every kind, loaded with the tributes of every variety of industry. Of the interior, one .may say it has the appearance of a town taken by assault. As nothing is yet finished and time presses, it is an inconceivable confusion, a prodigious pele- mele of men and machines — the activity of a hive com bined with the seeming disorder of incomplete preparations, and, provisionaUy, a Babel. Much remains to be said. It wiU be, if you please, for another time. LETTER LXV. FOEEIGNEES EXPECTED IN LONDON. Apiil 22nd, 1862. In a few, very few days, all the nations of the world wiU be present, through their official and non-official repre sentatives, at the great industrial festival which is to mark the 1st of May, 1862. The nearer we approach that momentous date, the keener becomes the anxiety it has awakened. England is preparing to discharge the duties of hospitaUty in a becoming manner, and to give the foreigners who are expected from aU quarters of the globe a favourable opinion of herself. That potent dame, who is already past her prime, but whose majestic and corpiUent beauty it is impossible not to admire — the City of London- — is doing her best to appear young again; she is quite determined that people shaU think her pretty ; and at this very moment she is busy putting on rouge and patches. Never, since 1851, has whitewash played such an important part. In the quarter I inhabit, which happens to be that of the Exhibition, every one is rivaUing his neigh bour in decorating his house. Verily, if London, at first sight, fails to please the expected visitors, the fault wiU' be theirs. FOREIGNERS EXPECTED IN LONDON. ii But London is not a city given to the romantic. They who expect to enjoy its hospitaUty must be prepared to pay for it. Not every one who wishes to lodge cheaply wiU do so, I answer for it. Exactly twenty paces from where I am, there is an unpretending little house which an EngUsh dame recently took upon a lease, and which she has furnished according to the dictates of the strictest economy. One hundred and twenty pounds a year is the rent she pays, but what does she ask for an apartment? Why, £12 per week. Speculation hopes to reap an abundant harvest in the field of sight-seers. On every side the eye is caught, enslaved, and tempted by the conventional notice, "Fuenished House." Do you remember the fable of the Laitiere et le pot au lait, or the history of the itinerant merchant in The Thousand and One Nights who, one fine day being seated before the door of a house with his portable shop before him, set himself dreaming how he would make a large fortune, build mosques, be made a king, and become an emperor, untU, in an iU regulated transport of joy, he upset with a kick of his foot that which contained in fragile objects the whole of his riches? This history was, in 1851, that of a great many people. But the race of the merchants of The Thousand and One Nights, and of the mUkmaids, is an incorrigible race. Foreign working men will not, in any case, have to com plain of English hospitaUty, if what I am told be true. When the Orpheonists came to London, it happened that as no pre parations had been made to receive them, their lot at the commencement was most lamentable. Many of them, if I remember rightly, had .to pass the night of their arrival, some in stables, others in garrets, without counting those who made the pavement their bed and took the corner-stone for their piUow. The English, though not at all answerable for the sudden and unexpected visit of the Orpheonists, were greatly ashamed of the mishap. In order that nothing of the kind should happen this time, a Committee has been formed, composed of Sir John SheUey, Mr. Layard, Mr. Cox — aU three members of Parliament — Mr. Marsh Nelson, Mr. G. A. Sala, Mr. J. R. L. Walmsley, and Mr. Blanchard Jerrold. The last-named gentleman, editor of Lloyd's 'Weeldy Newspaper, and son of that Douglas Jerrold in whom England lost the flower of her men of wit, has been appointed to fiU the post of 22 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. honorary manager. A better choice could not have been made. To take care that foreign working men who may visit the Exhibition shaU be lodged at reasonable terms, and that they have to pay only cost price for their food ; to organise a body of interpreters for their special use ; to see that they have medical advice when necessary, and to arrange excursions which shall enable them to know and admire the beauties of the suburbs of London, such are the ends which the Committee in question has in view. From this truly hospitable Committee to the Royal Com mission the transition is decidedly abrupt. Lord GranviUe, the Duke of Buckingham, Sir Wentworth Dilke, Mr. Thomas Baring, and Mr. Thomas Fairbairn, are aU gentlemen whom I greatly respect ; but for that very reason I regret that they should seem to see nothing in this Exhibition but a question of pounds, shUlings, and pence. Instead of being noblemen and gentlemen of independent means and personaUy disinter ested in the undertaking, had they been lenders of money on pledges, or dealers in candle-ends, they could not have shown themselves more prosaicaUy greedy of lucre. The interests of those who have subscribed to the guarantee fund certainly deserve to be looked after. Still, any anxiety on this head ought to have its Umits. It is very strange, for instance, that the idea should have been entertained of shutting the door in the face of every exhibitor who, on the opening day, did not present himself, purse in hand. Who makes the Exhibition if it be not the exhibitor ? Very strong, therefore, was the feeUng of indignation among those whose persons it was pro posed to exclude after accepting their products. The Com missioners wiU, probably, give way upon this point, as they have already done on some others. If not, there wiU be meetings at which the most violent threaten to propose re vengeful resolutions. What would become of the effect anticipated for the solemnity of the opening, if the exhibitors, finding themselves excluded, were to take it into their heads to cover their staUs ? Could they be prevented from doing so ? Would any one have the right to prevent them from doing so ? Here is another curious illustration of the disinterested love of gain by which the Commissioners are animated. They have hinted, not venturing to express themselves on this head FOREIGNERS EXPECTED IN LONDON. 23 in too explicit a manner, that the distinguished personages invited to the ceremony, ought to provide themselves with a season-ticket. This is the same as asking of them three or five guineas : three, as price of admission to the Palace, or five if they wish to be admitted both into the Palace and to the adjoining Horticultural Gardens. A singular mode, in truth, of inviting people ! And observe that these invitations are given in the Queen's name by personages such as the Duke of Cambridge, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Derby, Lord Palmerston, &c. It is as if the Queen of England, through the medium of the highest digni • taries of the realm, were to invite you to dinner, on condition that you brought your own wine and dishes, or that you paid a guinea. The proceeding is the more extraordinary, because the invited are precisely those among the spectators on whose presence depends the pomp of the spectacle. They are expected to pay for the pleasure which the cockneys will derive from staring at them. It is asking too much. The Daily Telegraph plea santly recaUs to mind, on this occasion, a good thing said by the father of the Duke of Cambridge. That prince was always ready to take the chair at pubUc dinners, and was accustomed to subscribe for aU kinds of charitable objects, without looking into them too closely. One day the com mittee of a charitable institution came to request of him the immediate payment of his subscription. " What ! " he ex claimed, " you want, then, to kiU your decoy-duck ! " Of those ducks which lure others, there wiU be a few on the opening day, but not so many as was at first expected. In the matter of mortal divinities, there wiU be nothing above princes ; in the matter of constellations, there wiU be only stars of the second magnitude : there will be no petty king whatever. It is true that a throne, and one of colossal pro portions, will raise its head within the buUding, but this throne will be unoccupied ; it will be there merely to recall the loss of that Prince Albert who was the soul of the Exhibi tion of 1 851, and to say to aU, in the words of Chateaubriand, that the eyes of the potentates of the earth, like those of the most humble amongst us, are filled with tears. One thing is clear. The Commissioners appear to fear lest the ceremony should want something of that outward :24 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. eplendour which is desired in such cases ; and it is to this apprehension, I imagine, that the foUowing notice must be attributed : — • " The guarantors and other persons invited to the opening ceremony are at liberty to choose between appearing in an official uniform or Court dress, and presenting themselves in plain morning costume ; but on the choice of the costume wiU depend their place in the reserved seats. Ladies wUl be in morning dress, and wiU not be separated from their cavaliers." This last arrangement is a magnanimous concession, on the part of the Commissioners, to the fears of the feminine portion of public opinion. But see what importance these gentlemen attach to the official costume and Court dress ! They under stand the human heart too well to set out with the principle : " First come, first served." Their principle is that, the bird -being judged by its plumage, the finest feathers have the right of precedence. At the Exhibition of '1851, there was a .Chinese whose " get up " met with great success. Let us hope, for the honour of the Exhibition of 1862, that the Japanese ambassadors will not depart before the 1st of May. My opinion is that Blondin and Leotard, in their respective and distinctive costumes, would also add to the general effect. I commend this idea to the sagacity of the Commissioners. And why, as it has been very properly suggested, why shoiUd not the chimney-sweepers be invited to come to pay thek tribute to the science of the picturesque ? This is the right time to do so, since the day fixed for the opening of the Exhibition happens to be the chimney-sweepers' great hoUday. Are you acquainted with the historical or legendary link that exists between the chimney-sweepers and the 1st of May ? There was once upon a time a lord, whose child had dis appeared. The chimney-sweepers had stolen it. After a time, on the 1st of May of a particular year, the child was sent into the paternal house to sweep the chimneys. He seems to behold once more, through the cloud of memories that float around the cradle, places whose confused image had remained on his brain, or rather in his heart. He conceals himself beneath a bed, and waits there until he is discovered by the people of the house. They question him. By certain marks his mother recognises him. Rapturous joy ! And our FOREIONERS EXPECTED IN LONDON. 25 little chimney-sweep becomes once more the heir of one of the first famUies of England. I informed you in my last letter that the Exhibition of 1862 promises to be a thing of beauty, and I do not wish to recall my words. I must own, however, that the public is, in spite of itself, pursued by a sort of vague fear — the fear of being disenchanted. The Exhibition of 1851 gave birth to so many expectations which have never been realised, or, at least, only partly reaUsed ! Nations, by being brought together, have become, as it were, penetrated by one another, and were there no other result obtained, even this would be very important. But much more than that was hoped for. Was it not beUeved that the era of peace had at last arrived in earnest ? And yet, in what situation are we to-day after an interval of ten years? During this brief space of time the world has scarcely ever ceased to be stained with blood. How often have the knots which the Exhibition of 1851 seemed to have drawn together so tightly, yielded since then to . the edge of the sword ! Only yesterday, what was the ruling question from one end of Europe to the other ? Why, the invention of iron ships to rend asunder ships of wood, and the manufacture of guns to rend asunder ships of iron. Nay, at this very moment my door is opened, and at the head of the paper which is handed to me, I read : " Great Battle near Corinth! Loss, onthe Federal side, of 20,000 men! Loss, on the Confederate side, of 35,000 men ! " Among the objects of art which public curiosity anticipates and demands with the greatest impatience to -be given up to it as soon as the Exhibition opens, must be placed the Armstrong gun, aU kinds of machines destined to vomit death, which are described as charming, a model of Captain Ericsson's floating battery, and a thick fragment of iron which was only a few days ago shattered at Shoeburyness. So very slow is the gestation of truthful ideas ! And whoso may feel disposed to look at things from an unpleasant point of view wiU find room for making many other remarks to the same effect. Would you like to know the scale of prices of admittance fixed upon by the Commis sioners ? To the opening ceremony wiU be admitted none but persons provided with a season-ticket, purchased for three or five guineas. On the second and third days the price of 26 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. admittance will be twenty shillings. From the 5th of May (the 4th being a Sunday) to the 31st, it wiU be two-and-six- pence, with the exception of one day in the week reserved for five-shiUing tickets. From the end of May to the close of the Exhibition, it wiU be one shiUing. So that there is no hope of the Exhibition being open, until the end of May, to that very class to which belonged those who have perished in constructing the Palace for the Exhibition ! Observe that the number of intrepid masons to whom this bold and hastily-constructed edifice has cost their life, is far more considerable than anyone dares to admit. Five or six days ago I expressed to one of the superintendents of works the emotion I had experienced in beholding the mutUated corpse of one of these soldiers of industry borne past me on a stretcher. "Bah!" he replied, in an absent sort of manner, " there has been much exaggeration. A score of workmen, perhaps, have been kiUed in faUing from the top of the scaf folding. What is that ? " Yes, what is that ? Industry has its soldiers : very good ; but is it for them that the word "glory" was invented? Is it of them that honourable mention is made ? Is it upon them that crosses of honour are conferred ? Is it for them that trumpets sound a flourish? They are exposed to suffer death, but they do not inflict it. Of what have they to complain if, when they have shattered their skull upon the pavement, the buUetin of their exploits is confined to the bare statement, " accidentaUy kiUed," and is printed in the papers after the account of the death of a boxer ? Let the children of the poor wretch whose mortal remains I still have before my eyes, wait a month, and they wiU be aUowed, if they have the means of paying the neces sary shiUing, to go and see the spot where their father's blood was shed. THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION : OPENING CEREMONY. 27 LETTER LXVI. THE INTEENATIONAL EXHIBITION ! THE OPENING CEEEMONT. May 1st, 1862. To-DAT, the first of May, has taken place the ceremony of the opening of the International Exhibition of 1862. I need not say that there was a great crowd, both out side and inside of the Palace. It appears that during the past fortnight the steamboats of the South-Eastern Company, which unite Boulogne and Folkestone, have brought to London from three to four hundred persons every day. Of the eager ness of rich people to pay the required five guineas, there can be no possible doubt. As the day approached for the opening of the Exhibition, people hastened from aU quarters to pur chase tickets, with a thriU of impatience ; so that the day before yesterday the amount, received, exceeded the £10,000 which at the corresponding period of the Exhibition of 1851 had been lodged in the Commissioners' strong box. And yet — why should I not say so ? — the expected cere mony did not seem to announce itself imder very happy auspices. The prince who had conceived the idea, who was so fit to direct the preparations, who was to have been its heart and soul, that .prince was sleeping his last sleep. Everyone knew that royalty would be represented only by a vacant throne. It had been given out that not even the Prince of Wales would be there. Moreover, there was no reckoning on the curiosity of certain crowned personages, whose visit had for a moment been dreamed of, as a means to heighten the splendour of the ceremony. On the other hand, however desirous the Commissioners might have been to execute their task in a worthy manner, it was regretted that they had not been more successful. I was told yesterday, in, confidence, that the Commissioners had at last determined upon admitting the exhibitors without making them pay for admittance ; but the contrary had been pro claimed far and wide, and so loudly that it had been to the parties concerned a subject of profound irritation. Some 28 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. talked of convening an "indignation meeting;" others threatened to cover their staUs; others again compared the conduct of the Roj^al Commissioners to that of the Royal Academy of Arts, accused of swelling its revenue every year by some £8000, by inviting the pubUc to come and see, at a shiUing a head, such paintings as are lent to it. While these little complaints and commentaries were at the highest, there appeared a letter from Verdi, in which he informed the astonished public that the vocal solo with chorus composed by him for the Exhibition, and which TamberUk had offered to sing, was declined by the Commissioners under flie pretext that twenty-five days would not be enough for learning this short piece of music, though twenty-five days are enough for learning a new opera. To this ground of discontent was soon afterwards added another. There is an English proverb which says : " Where there are musicians, don't expect to find harmony." The first poet in England, Tennyson, having written a poem for the opening ceremony, and the first composer in England, Mr. Bennett, having set it to music, Signor Costa, appointed to conduct the orchestra, remembered that he had had a quarrel with Mr. Bennett, and, so far back as the previous July, apprised the Commissioners of his resolution to have nothing to do with that gentleman's music. In such circumstances, what ought the Commissioners to have done ? Since the point under discussion referred to verses composed by the Poet Laureate of England, and set to music by an English composer, why not invite an English man, Mr. Alfred Mellon for instance, to fill, in favour of Mr. Bennett, the place left vacant by Signor Costa ? Such was the general opinion ; and the national nerve quivered when it was bruited abroad that, for Mr. Bennett's cantata, the orchestra would be conducted by M. Sainton. An ItaUan might pass — but a Frenchman ! I should never finish, were I to take notice of aU the small troubles and saddening prognostics which disturbed the hours devoted to expectation. Every morning the papers groaned over the tormenting slowness of the preparations. Would it be ready in time ? Of that countless number of cases filled with precious objects, how few would be unpacked when the hour arrived for throwing open the doors ! In fact THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION : OPENING CEREMONY. 29i even now the work is far from being finished. France, strange to say, France whose glance is so rapid, whose movements are so quick, and whose hand is so ready, has allowed herself to be overtaken not only by England, but by slow-paced Austria^ AU this, people were justified in saying ; all this was said ; and if even France were so much behindhand, what hope was there of the others ? Besides, the wind was not favourable for pleasant thoughts. Business languishes. Manchester is at the last extremity, Lancashire is in the agony of death. It is when industry is sick that the festival of industry is being solemnised ! Such were the gloomy fancies which, so to speak, were floating in the air, when the sun arose on the first of May, " Arose " is the word. At nine o'clock, the weather, which, during the previous week, had been magnificent, augured nothing good. It had rained during the night. The morning was dreary ; but towards ten o'clock the clouds dispersed, and the admirable deity whom the Incas adored, lost no time in flooding the whole scene with his vivifying light. At half-past ten I was in the Prince Albert Road, which runs along the western face of the Exhibition Palace. From the upper rooms of the stately mansions which form the sides of this spacious and imposing avenue, flags were displayed, among which I saluted with emotion my country's flag. The balconies were crowded with ladies in elegant morning cos tume. Along the road defiled an interminable Une of carriages. On both sides of the road, at regular intervals, policemen were stationed. They are no ornament to a festival, it is true ; but they are a protection. In 1851, they and their feUows from other countries were deemed so necessary that each Govern ment received an invitation to send its own police to London, England taking upon herself to defray the charges of inter national order. The expense was enormous — £19,000! This time, the maintenance of order wiU cost much less, as the English poUce has been found sufficient. At half-past ten the doors were thrown open for those who had reserved places, and I entered. I visited the interior of the Palace yesterday, but what a, change from one day to the next ! Yesterday, aU was confu sion. At every step you knocked against a case stiU unpacked. You had to pick out your way through the hay and straw 30 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. with which the floor was covered. You breathed less air than dust. You were rudely elbowed on this side and on that by workmen eager to get finished. If it was not quite the chaos of preceding days, it was something very like it. To-day, the aspect of the haU was at least respectable. Magnificent, it certainly was not. Everyone was so much behindhand' that not even the wand of the enchanter Merlin would have availed to effect the desired metamorphose. The day before yesterday it was confidently stated that France, to whom so large a space had been accorded in the principal nave, would have nothing to show on the opening day — absolutely nothing. That was going too far ; but I must confess that I felt my patriotism bleed when I beheld the industry of France represented, on this solemn occasion, by a few carpets, some bronzes, and a warrior of the Middle Ages on horseback, flanked by four other warriors on foot. To tell the truth, not every department is as backward as ours. But it is certain that nothing is yet finished, nothing com plete. The Exhibition has been opened, not in the midst of treasures proudly displayed, but in the midst of treasures half veiled, or wholly hidden away. Shall I speak of the grand nave ? Obstructed, as it was, by a number of industrial trophies, placed seemingly at hazard, it gave me the idea of a fair. The effect of such a gigantic line, reaching from one dome to the other, is utterly lost. Ah ! the Crystal Palace was a very different thing ! From half-past ten to one o'clock I passed the time much as everybody else did. First of aU, I chose my place. Then I measured with the eye the colossal dimensions of the edifice. After that, I read the Biblical sentences standing out in yeUow letters on a blue ground, beneath and around the domes, and felt astonished that Mr. Crace had not been more happy in choosing and combining his decorative colours. Then I looked at the ladies coming in, and, finaUy, I listened to the bands of the Coldstream and Scots Fusilier Guards. At last, at about one o'clock, the harsh voice of the trumpets brayed aloud : it was the signal. Then there entered by the door leading into CromweU Road, which runs alono- the southern face of the Palace, the official visitors, the visitors in costume. These proceeded towards the western dome beneath THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION : OPENING CEREMONY. 31 which was placed an arm-chair, personating the throne, and covered with a sumptuous canopy. The National Hymn was chaunted, after which Lord Granville delivered an address, supposed to be intended for the absent Queen, who was repre sented by the Duke of Cambridge and the other Special Com missioners appointed to open the Exhibition in her name. It was natural that this address should commence with words of sorrow ; for, on this occasion, Lord GranviUe occupied the place of Prince Albert, likewise absent. And in fact these words of sorrow constituted the entire exordium. As for the rest of the harangue, it was a cold and colourless state ment of the concatenation of ideas, and of the series of labours, of which this year's Exhibition is the result. The peroration was as foUows : — " It is our ardent prayer that the Exhibition of 1862, which is on the point of being inaugurated, and the direction of which has been entrusted to us, may prove a not unworthy link in the chain of International Exhibitions, ^yith which will remain for ever associated the honoured name of the iUustrious Consort of your Majesty." Such is the official style ! Such is official eloquence ! After a brief reply from the Duke of Cambridge, the visitors in costume marched in procession to the eastern dome, along the northern side of the nave, _where a path had been kept clear for them, not without difficulty. There figured in this procession, which was preceded by the trumpeters of the Life Guards, the superintendents of works of the Exhibition, the contractors, the architect, the members of the Councils of the Agricultural Society and the Society of Arts, a deputa tion from the Guarantors, the Presidents of the Juries, the Foreign Commissioners, the Lord Provost of Glasgow, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, the Lord Mayor of York, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Mr. William Cubitt, Lord Mayor of London, preceded by the Mace-bearer and Sword-bearer, the Commissioners of the Exhibition of 1851, those of the present Exhibition, the Bishop of London, the Ministers, the Special Commissioners appointed for the inauguration, and, finaUy, Prince Oscar of Sweden and the Prince Royal of Prussia. This is not unUke, as you will observe, an Homeric enu meration. And yet there is in the Ust an omission which you wiU have already remarked. What was done with the corps diplomatique ? If I be correctly informed, their ExceUencies 32 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. were not very well pleased with an oversight which, to say the least of it, was very extraordinary in an international solemnity. I saw this procession pass, and could not avoid feeling some friendly commiseration for men, many of whom are persons of the highest merit, on reflecting on the part which they were made to play by this ostentatious exhibition of them selves. After all, the really interesting and imposing portion of this ceremony was that in which music bore the chief part. How noble was that powerful orchestra, composed of 2000 vocal performers and 400 instrumentalists ! A man — one single man — could not have obeyed the conductor's baton with' more marveUous precision. The iUustrious composer of the Huguenots, of Robert le Diahle, of the Prophete, had sent to the Commissioners an overture, in the form of a march, com posed expressly for the Exhibition. This piece, worthy com panion of the so many master-pieces which the world owes to Meyerbeer, was admirably performed. Thanks to certain acoustic arrangements very well managed, the sound seemed' to fill the immense space without an effort. Had it produced nothing but this new creation from one of the great masters of music, the Exhibition woujd have deserved weU of man kind. I have already mentioned that Mr. Sterndale Bennett had set to music certain verses composed for the occasion by Mr. Tennyson, the Poet-Laureate. I have the verses lying before me, but, besides being untranslatable, I doubt if they are worth the trouble of a translation. It is singular that such an admirable poet as Mr. Tennyson has not been better in spired when prophesying the glorious era of peace and apos trophising him whom he calls " O silent father of our kings , to be ! " — 0 pere silencieux de nos rois a venir ! Fortunately, Mr. Bennett's music was not affected by the inadequacy of the words ; and the orchestra, led by M. Sainton, proved itself the same as when conducted by Signor Costa. Of Auber' s Grand March what could I say, except that one finds in it all the grace, all the vivacity, all the poetic fancy, all the brilliancy of that talent, so essentially French, with which you are fam.iliar. I never hear Auber's music without thinking of thc perspicuity and wit of Voltaire. THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION : OPENING CEREMONY. 33 0 Verdi, we have fought at Arques, and thou wast not there ! But it was not his fault. The sin was committed by the Commissioners. But it was they who were to-day present at the opening of the Exhibition who did penance for that sin. That is nearly all I have to say to you. I heard few cries of any kind, nor did I remark much enthusiasm. And yet this international festival was grand : grand through the idea which it expressed, and through the end held in view ; grand through the contact of so many nations ; grand through the fabulous accumulation at a given point of such varied wealth ; grand through the imposing homage rendered to the genius of industry and of peace ; grand through the mass of spectators ; grand through the supreme beauty of genius. The ancients, after aU, were acquainted with nothing at aU like it. Their amphitheatres with eighty rows of seats, those gigantic amphitheatres which Calpurnius describes, gleaming with marble, ornamented with precious stones, and in which a hundred thousand men could be seated with ease ; their porticoes covered with gold ; their artificial forests, in which thousands of ostriches, stags, wild boars, and deer were offered to the people as objects of pillage ; their hecatombs of lions, bears, and leopards ; the scenic changes of these vast arenas in which ferocious animals were seen to issue from an abyss whence immediately sprang up groups of trees ; their nets woven with gold, magniflcent ramparts which they placed between the wild beasts and the surround ing multitude : aU that, certainly, bore witness to man's power, but what moral idea hovered over those festivals of blood ? When the Emperor caused three hundred gladiators to fight with a like number of adversaries, and when these poor creatures, whose lives had a stipulated value, passed before Csesar uttering that slavish exclamation, Morituri te scdulant ! and when even young girls, while beholding the con queror on the point of slaying his adversary, abstained from making the sign of mercy, and turned back the thumb, thus commanding the strongest to pierce the breast of the weakest, lying prostrate on the ground — what useful instruction could compensate for the horror of such an abominable education in cruelty ? 34 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. It is true, the ancients could boast of more innocent and less deadly festivals. But the prize which, at the Olympig Games, the Greeks voted to the most robust, or the most active, did not — as M. Musurus, the Turkish Ambassador, weU remarked, at the last Lord Mayor's Banquet^possess the elevated character of the prize which, in our modern Olympic Games, is voted to the most industrious. But why, then, when the imagination loved to repose on ideas of universal peace and fraternity, was it necessary that synchronisms of strife should occur to remind us that reason is stiU in the militant stage ; that industry is far from having effected in a definitive manner the solemn reconciliation of nations ; and that mankind are stUl engaged in roUing the rock of Sisyphus to the summit of that rugged mountain whence, down to the present day, it has never ceased to rebound ? I was thinking of this when my neighbour opened Punch, that merry sheet which is so weU known to you. Casting my eye on it, I beheld — what ? — an engraving, representing the goddess of Peace seated on a cannon. A few pencU touches give you there the history of the Exhibition of 1862. LETTER LXVII. ME. GLADSTONE, May 2nd, 1862. There was held yesterday week, in the Town Hall at Manchester, a grand meeting of the Members of the Chamber of Commerce. The object of this meeting was to present to Mr. Gladstone an address acknowledging the services he has rendered to his country as Statesman and Financier. Mr. Gladstone deserves this homage, for no one has laboured for the pubUc weal in England with more talent, more zeal, or a more earnest love of progress. Not that Mr. Gladstone has always walked in. the broad path of Uberty. Far from it. There was a time when, like his guide and leader, Sir Robert Peel, he fought, if not in the MR. GLADSTONE. 35 Conservative ranks, at least by their side. There exists a book written by him which marks in a very striking manner both the point from which he set out and the distance he has traversed. It is the book he published in 1838 under the title of " The State in its Relations with the Church." Who at that time could have ever supposed that such a violent partisan ofthe High Church would write, in 1851, those two famous letters to Lord Aberdeen, in which the Government of Naples was summoned before the bar of pubUc opinion — letters which were not only an event in themselves, but which prepared the way for Garibaldi, and wiU survive as one of the most exciting denunciations which have ever been launched against sacerdotal influence when used for political purposes ? It is curious to reflect, at the present moment, that Mr. Gladstone, after having figured, at the period of the Crimean war, in Lord Aberdeen's Cabinet, and having retired, because he objected to a commission being appointed to inquire into the state of the army ; it is curious, I say, to reflect that he was not reluctant to form part of Lord Derby's administration, and allowed himself to be sent to the Ionian Islands as the representative of a Conservative^ Minister. At the present day Mr. Gladstone is again not only a coUeague of Lord Palmerston, but also the most Liberal of Lord Palmerston's coUeagues. To such a degree, indeed, is this the case, that in the quarters where his presence has become almost a necessity, there are some who begin to be rendered anxious by his demeanour, and to ask in whispers: "What does he mean? Where is he going? Where wUl he stop ? " Unfortunately, it is not the Conservatives alone who speak in this manner. Although everyone acknowledges Mr. Gladstone's sincerity and perfect rectitude, it is certain that he fiUs everyone with anxiety. Some fear to see him go too far ; others dread to see him shrink back ; no one is bold enough to answer for the path which wiU be taken by Mr. Gladstone. And why ? For this simple reason, that Mr. Gladstone himself does not know. Macaulay says, in speaking of HaUfax, WiUiam the Third's famous , Minister, that "he was slow from very quickness." It might be said of Mr. Gladstone that, he is wavering and uncertain from excess of penetration. Yes, what detracts D 2 36 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. from the firmness of his judgment, what condemns him to the tortures of an undecided line of conduct, is precisely the most characteristic quality of his eminent intellect. His very sagacity somewhat impairs his powers. His extraordinary clearsightedness is a daily embarrassment to him. He em braces with such a rapid glance the different aspects of every question; he seizes with such promptitude upon the pro and the con ; he sees so weU the right and the wrong side of every thing, that his mind suggests at the same time the question and the answer, the affirmative and the negative, the argument and the rejoinder : a precious faculty, no doubt, but much less so in a political man, whose energy it fre quently paralyses, than in a philosopher, to whom it imparts that high impartiality which is the honour and the noblest attribute of philosophy. At the same time, it cannot be denied that, even as a political man, Mr. Gladstone is worthy to be placed in the foremost ranks. Besides, he is also a man of business. He understands the details of commerce. He is famiUar with the manipulation of figures, and, when necessary, he can show himself either as the son of a Liverpool merchant, or as a graduate of the University of Oxford. But where he excels, is in oratorical jousting. Mr. Glad stone would be the first orator in England, were there no Mr. Bright, and although there is a Mr. Bright, Mr. Gladstone is unquestionably the first orator in the House of Commons. A sonorous voice, flashing eyes, a flow of words that gushes forth like a torrent, and the ardour of an indomitable conviction, this is what constitutes the talents of Mr. Bright. He is aggressive, vehement, intrepid — intrepid to a fault. Looking at the air with which he attacks the aristocracy in the classic land of aristocracy, one feels that he is one of those great wrestlers who require great obstacles and great adver saries. Looking at the air with which he braves public opinion in a country where the despotism of public opinion forms the counterpoise to liberty, one feels that he believes himself capable of mastering the people, while in the very act of arming them against himself. In the midst of the patriotic enthu siasm excited by the battles of the Alma and Inkermann, he was to be heard thundering against the Crimean war, and caUing it a bloodstained foUy. At the height of the irrita- MR. GLADSTONE. 37 tion produced by the affair of the Trent, he was to be heard extolling the republic of the United States, proposing it to the world as a model, and rushing forward with a sort of savage pride to affront the reproach of not having an English heart. At once austere and violent, Mr. Bright is half a Quaker, half a tribune. Beneath every one of the figures employed by his eloquence, always substantial though always animated, passion is heard growUng. Statistics are brandished by him as a club would be by a muscular arm. When he recommends peace at any price, he does so in words which seem to sound the charge. In Rome, he would have been the man of the Forum ; in England he is, before all, the man of the hustings. But for that very reason he is iU at ease in the House of Commons, where a portion of his strength sometimes abandons him, and the atmosphere of which is evidently unsuited to his stormy eloquence. There, on the contrary, Mr. Gladstone is in his glory. That penetrating gracefulness of language which subdues you without doing you any violence, that literary savour which enhances the value of the thought in a gathering of refined and cultivated minds, the perfume of classic studies, the art of introducing striking and unforeseen quotations, the philoso phical turn, the veUed irony, the subtility combined with power — in short, all that is deficient in Mr. Bright, Mr. Glad stone possesses in a superior degree. Every one knows that in the House of Commons Mr. Glad stone represents the University of Oxford, but he does more than represent it, for, except from a political point of view, he reflects it. His talent is, in the literal sense of the word, an universitarian talent, and it is probably for that reason that the Uniyersity of Oxford has remained faithful to him. In truth, the aUiance has not been an unclouded one. Contracted in 1847, it would have been violently broken up in 1859, had not the bonds of literary free-masonry which exist between Oxford and the former undergraduate of Christchurch proved sufficiently strong to withstand the pressure of political resent ment. At that period, Mr. Gladstone's conversion to Liberal ideas was no longer a secret ; and the University of Oxford, Conservative at heart, had some difficulty in forgiving such a crime. It made the effort, nevertheless. Who, indeed, could have been its accredited ambassador to the Court of — 38 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. Parliament, if the man who wrote " Homer and the Homeric Age " had ceased to be so ? At the meeting mentioned at the beginning of this letter, Mr. Gladstone, of course, made a speech. It was expected that he would discourse on pubUc affairs, and this expectation was not disappointed. The exordium deserves to be brought to your notice: — "Considerable changes," said the orator, "have taken place during the last few years. The political feelings of the country are no longer what they were. I beUeve — and I say it with some regret — I believe that a sort of lethargy has for the moment come over the ParUament and the people. There are several questions which I could point out — there is one which I wiU point out, in my own name and without pretend ing to express anything more than my o^vn individual opinion. I wish to speak of the question of electoral franchise, on the subject of which are manifested symptoms of lethargy which it is impossible to deny." Here then, we have a member of the Government, who publicly, and on a solemn occasion, recognises with regret the political indifference of the people, and, as it were, scolds their apathy. He would have them more enterprising, more animated, more zealous for the conquest of the rights which yet remain to be conquered. What an example ! What a lesson ! It is true that, knowing Lord Palmerston's personal re pugnance for whatever belongs to reform, Mr. Gladstone was careful, on this occasion, not to pledge any responsibiUty but his own. But his declaration is not the less remarkable. It shows that in England power is not considered as necessarUy representing resistance. It proves that, far fr-om repulsing pro gress when it presents itself, the statesmen whose souls are of a lofty character expect it, caU for it, and rather beckon to it to approach if it seems to linger on the way, weU knowing that the best way to avoid revolutions is to be fearless of reforms. That is the key to the profound tranquiUity w^hich, in England, accompanies the continuous action of liberty ; and thus also is explained the sort of apparent torpor into whieh the people sometimes aUows itself to sink. It knows that whenever it may be pleased to reclaim its dues, payment wiU be effected without difficulty ; that it com- MR. GLADSTONE. 39 promises nothing by. adjournment ; that it can permit itself the luxury of repose ; and that, if it chance to slumber, powerful intellects watch over it, in its own interest. As ChanceUor of the Exchequer, Mr. Gladstone could not faU to touch upon the subject of flnance. Here, too, his explanations were characteristic, and deserve to be chronicled. When in 1853, Mr. Gladstone appeared at Manchester before the same men who have just now so cordiaUy welcomed his presence among them, the budget of the expenditure of England was 55-^ miUions sterling, and the budget of receipts about 59 miUions, which left a surplus of 3^ milUons. At the present day the position is far less agreeable. To nearly balance the two accounts is about aU that can be done. Now, during the last three years, the sum which has been annuaUy .extracted from the pockets of the people has amounted, on an average, to not less than 70-J^ millions sterling; that is to say, it has exceeded the total which represents each of the three years of the war with Russia. Mr. Gladstone acknow ledged, with great candour, that such a result was by no means satisfactory. But, whose fault is it ? Is not the English people the master in England ? Is it not the specialty and glory of the English nation that it is a self-governing nation? Is not' public opinion, in the United Kingdom, supreme over aU? Are not the House of Commons, the House rf Lords, and the ministers, subject to its orders ? In short, is not its will, always so freely expressed, the law ? The public alone, then, is answerable for the heaviness of the burden which weighs down the pubUc. If it deems the actual position of its finances an unsound situation, if the reduction of the ex penditure appears to it expedient or necessary, the remedy is in its own hands. It has only to wiU ; it has only to speak ; it wiU be obeyed. What think you of this language ? There is a sentence in the Gospels very touching, and yet more profound than touching: " Whosoever wiU be chief among you, let him be your servant." Happy the countries where authority reposes on this principle ! Here, it is the Government which obej'S, and the foremost functionaries of the State adopt the title, than which none can be more honourable, of "public 40 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. servants." The people gain by it; and they, what do they lose ? The less they are feared, the more they are re spected. LETTER LXVIIL THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. May 9th, 1862. LoED Canning has lately returned from India, where he has been succeeded as Governor-General by Lord Elgin, and where he himself succeeded Lord Dalhousie in 1855. Now with this change coincides a report identically the same as the one which in 1835 gave a shock to public opinion, the consequences of which were terrible : " The Persians are marching upon Herat. The Persians have taken Herat. The Persians are threatening Kandahar." And, moreover, it appears that the Afghans are caUing upon the English to help them. Fortunately, men's minds are not exactly of the disposition they were twenty-seven years ago. Experience has spoken, and has done so with a voice that could not fail to make itself heard. The EngUsh still remember how much gold and blood it cost them, for having been too much afraid of Russian in trigues, of the movements of Persia, and of the supposed treachery of certain native princes. The idea that the under hand progress of Russian influence is a present danger to their supremacy in India, has lost much of its former force. That the native chiefs of the different states lying along the frontiers of the Anglo- Indian Empire are haunted by the genius of intrigue and of conspiracy, and cherish feelings tow§,rds the conquerors of India of which Russia would like nothing better than to avail herself, is believed by many persons here just as firmly now as it was in 1835. But even these are persuaded, or affect to be so, that were the Czar to succeed in setting in motion aU the forces of Kandahar and Beloochistan, there would be nothing in it of a nature to disturb the serenity of the Government of Calcutta. The fact is, that it only needs to cast an eye upon the map to see that the only province of the Anglo-Indian Empire THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. 41 which is exposed to an invasion, is that on the north-west. But what are the States bordering on this frontier ? Beloo chistan and the kingdom of Kabul, that is, countries destitute of all regular government and of all regular organisation, and depending for military service on some legions of freebooters. Beyond them is Persia, a country of far greater importance, behind which are stationed the Russians, ever ready to drive their spurs into its flanks. But let the English only dispatch a squadron to the Persian Gulf, the Court of Teheran is seized with a trembling fit. In the second place, admitting that Russia contrived, by means of the Persians, to knock at the gate of the Anglo-Indian Empire — admitting that the spectre of an armed invasion rose up even on the borders of Scinde — What then ? Would not an army bold enough to set foot on the English territory, run the risk of seeing, at the first step it took, its communications intercepted ? Would it be easy to provide an adequate artillery force, or to find supplies for an army of fifty or sixty thousand men, with two hundred leagues of deserts and mountains between itself and its base of operations ? Thus argue those who have not, like Mr. Urquhart and his friends, what may be caUed a nightmare, when they dream about Russia. It remains to be seen if the optimists have not somewhat deceived themselves in their calculations ; if an exaggerated panic has not given place in their minds to an excessive con fidence ; and if there be nothing but raving in the delenda est Carthago of Mr. Urquhart. However, the public seems to have received with perfect indifference news, or, if you prefer it, rumours, which formerly would have created a ferment. Do you remember how disastrous for England was the war in Afghanistan ? It is, I fancy, because the English have not forgotten it, that they now shrink from carrying their vigilance too far. In fact, all the disasters which mark that gloomy epoch in the history of England had their source in the almost super stitious dread inspired by Russia bending over India. Russia had boldly pushed forward into Central Asia ; her influence over the Persian Government was, or appeared to be, supreme ; she omitted nothing to establish the power of Persia at Herat, 42 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. SO as to rule there in another's name ; a Russian general was spoken of as having accompanied the Russian army to Herat and personaUy directed the siege operations ; it was known that a Russian agent. Lieutenant Vicovitch, had found his way to Dost Mahomed Khan, who then reigned over Kabul and Afghanistan, with the view to detach him from the English aUiance. There could be no doubt about it ! Russia desired to make India her prey, and this must be prevented at any price. If it were proved that Dost Mahomed had opened his ears to the overtures of Russia, there would not be a moment to lose. The states of the Afghan chief must be instantly invaded, himself deposed and carried off into captivity, and Shah Soojah put in his stead, who had been driven from power by his own subjects, but who had the great merit of Uving at Loodianah as a pensioner of the Indian Government, and on whose docility the fullest reliance could be placed. Such was the point of view which was at once adopted, without reflection, by Lord Auckland, at that time Governor- General of India. But was Dost Mahomed reaUy disposed to become the instrument of Russian ambition ? Sir Alexander Burnes, the English political agent in Afghanistan, satisfied himself that it was not so, and he took care to express his opinion aloud, and to write and repeat it whenever an oppor tunity occurred. In his dispatches he demonstrated, by a multitude of facts of no ambiguous character, which had come within his per sonal knowledge, that Dost Mahomed was a faithful aUy of England ; that, far from lending himself to the intrigues of Russia, he had it at heart to baffle them ; that the Indian Government might, and ought to, confide in his loyalty; and that England had a paramount interest in doing so. It was aU to no purpose. No one felt disposed to be convinced. Lord Auckland had resolved upon imposing on the Afghans a master entirely devoted to the English, in fact, their creature, their slave. But as Sir Alexander Burnes' conclusions rested upon facts which it was more easy to hush up than to deny ; as there was such a thing as public opinion in England, and as it was by no means certain that the policy of the Governor-General would gain a verdict, before this supreme tribunal, against the policy of a subordinate agent, what, think you, was done ? I grieve to say it, because in THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. 43 the constitutional history of England so black a stain has never occurred, there was committed — ^yes — there was com mitted a forgery, an actual falsification of public documents. The " Correspondence relating to Afghanistan " was officiaUy published in 1839, and was submitted to ParUament with falsifications intended to show — fiLrst, that Dost Mahomed was intriguing against England in favour of the Russians ; and, secondly, that that was the conclusion to be drawn from the dispatches of Sir Alexander Burnes. Not a single fact of all those which, in the course of the correspondence, went to prove that Dost Mahomed was a faithful ally, but was fraudu lently omitted ; not a single sentence among all those which, under the pen of Sir A. Burnes, testified to his esteem for the Afghan chief, but was fraudulently suppressed. In short, the art of arranging and the art of omitting were carried to such a point that Sir A. Burnes was made to think the exact contrary of what he did think, and to write the exact contrary of what he had written. Lord Melbourne was at that time at the head of the Ministry, and Lord Palmerston had a seat in the Cabinet as Secretary for Foreign Affairs. No sooner was Sir Alexander Burnes informed of the pubUcation of ' the falsified dispatches than he sent to England a copy of the true dispatches, and the report quickly spread abroad that a fraud had been committed in the " Correspondence relating to Afghanistan." Now, what were the consequences ? No Englishman can recaU the awful remembrance without anguish at heart ! Dost Mahomed was deposed and made prisoner ; Shah Soojah was instaUed in his place; and the bazaars of Kabul were burnt to the ground. But, on the other hand, the English forces serving in Afghanistan were exterminated through a general uprising of the country — of an army of 5000 men, dragging after it some 12,000 camp followers, there was left but one man — and the foot of the traveUer might have knocked against the skeleton of an Englishman, holding between its teeth a scrap of paper on which these words were written : " The Feringhees came to Kabul, and this is what remains of the Feringhees." Fifteen mUlions sterling, engulfed for ever, is the figure which represents the material advantages of an expedition undertaken contrary to all the laws of justice. 44 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. It is only fair, however, to state that the Court of Directors of the old East India Company were not accountable for the policy which engendered the Afghan war. The enforcement of this policy was pursued without the knowledge of the Company for seven years, and was repudiated by them with indignation when the facts came to Ught, as was declared by Colonel Sykes in the sitting ofthe 19th of March, 1861. Unless I greatly err, this page of history, which is not thoroughly known even in England, is not known at aU in France, and, therefore, I have avaUed myself of the first opportunity to lay it before your readers. To combat darkness everywhere and always, is the true mission of the press. Although this letter is already too long, I cannot bring myself to close it without mentioning a little book which has just been published, which I have read again and again, and which has caused me the liveliest emotion. It is a collection of speeches, delivered, on various occasions, by Captain East- wick on questions relating to the English Government in India. Captain Eastwick is one of the fifteen members who now constitute the CouncU for India. Previous to the power of the Company being entirely absorbed by that of the Crown, Captain Eastwick belonged to the Court of Directors, that is to say, he was one of the eighteen potentates who, from London, and in the name of a Company of Merchants, governed, no long time ago, with almost sovereign sway, a country with up-ivards of 180 mUlions of inhabitants, situated at a distance of 3000 leagues. Captain Eastwick has lived in India. He has been in vested with public functions. He speaks the language of the country, a necessary accomplishment in persons sent there, but in which many are unfortunately deficient. He is thoroughly acquainted with the character of the natives, with their manners, habits, quaUties, and defects. His opinion, therefore, upon all that relates to India, is clothed with authority and entitled to respect. Well, the conclusion to be drawn from every line of the book lying before me, is a formal condemnation of that policy of encroachment and oppression which is the ideal of those who are called " Old Indians." Nothing can be more animated, more touching, and more noble, than the manner in which Captain Eastwick relates, whUe disapproving of it, the unjust and brutal acqui- THE ENGLISH IN INDIA. 45 sition of Scinde in 1843, by Sir Charles Napier, whom Lord EUenborough, then Governor-General, had invested for that .purpose with unlimited powers. It is impossible to read, without being overcome, now with emotion, now with indig nation, the tragical history of those Ameers of Scinde, who began, it is true, by distrusting the English and opposing their influence, but who afterwards sought their alliance, courted their protection, and abandoned themselves to their generosity. Yet, so soon as an excuse was wanted for the em ployment of force, they were pursued by false accusations and condemned without having been heard ; they were despoiled, struck down, hurled from the height of grandeur into the depths of misery. When, for the flrst time, Captain Eastwick sketched, before the Court of Directors, this heart-rending picture, the ex-sovereign of Upper Scinde, Meer Roostum, a worthy and venerable old man, had already died in exile ; whUe his widow, also bowed down beneath the weight of years, inhabited a miserable Uttle hut built with reeds, in which she subsisted on what some old servants, who had re mained faithful to her faUen fortunes, were able to make by selUng wood. And how much more startling does the end of the drama appear if compared with the opening scene ! When, in 1840, Dost Mahomed, whose authority the State of Scinde at that time recognised, felt himself at the point of death, he sent for a brave and high-minded English officer, Major Outram, who, in a dispatch dated December 6th, 1840, described what passed in the following words : " His Highness saluted me by the name of brother, threw his arms round my neck, and held me in his embrace for several minutes. The Ameer was so feeble, so wasted away, that, exhausted by this exertion, it was some time before he could speak. At last he made a sign to his brother, Meer Nusseer Khan, and to his youngest son, Meer Houssein Ali, to approach. Then, taking a hand of each of them, he placed them in mine, and said to me, ' You are for them a father and a brother. You wiU protect them.' " After quoting this dispatch, Captain Eastwick had good reason to exclaim : "Will the English people believe that this poor boy, Houssein Ali, whom his father, at the moment of death, had thus commended to the generosity of the British 40 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. Government has been dethroned, exiled, imprisoned, and despoiled of his goods, without any accusation having been brought against him ! " To see in the English rule in India nothing but organised oppression would assuredly be insensate and unjust. The truth is, that the administration of the Company was, in many respects, fruitful of grand and praiseworthy results. This is proved by Captain Eastwick, and also clearly established by a remarkable pamphlet which Mr. John Stuart MiU pub lished in 1858, at the time when he conducted the political correspondence of the India House. And it would be neither less unjust nor less insensate, to involve in one common anathema aU who, in those distant regions, have been caUed upon to represent England, and to exercise power in her name. There is a distinction to be made, for instance, be tween the harsh, ambitious, aggressive administration of the conqueror of the Punjaub and of the Kingdom of Oude, Lord Dalhousie, and the benevolent administration of his successor, whose title to glory wiU be the having incurred and merited, while put to such a terrible test by the famous revolt of the Sepoys, the surname of " Clemency Canning." How much is it to be regretted, for the honour of England, that the splendour of the great things she has accomplished in India, should have been tarnished by acts similar to those denounced by Captain Eastivick with such courageous sin cerity, with such noble and impassioned eloquence, with such genuine patriotism? I say "patriotism," because they alone know how to love their country, whose love is consistent with justice. ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF BRITISH POWER IN INDIA. 47 LETTER LXIX. OEIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE BEITISH POWEE IN INDIA. May 10th, 1862. The origin and progress of British power in India cer tainly offer one of the most marveUous spectacles which history has ever furnished. On the last day of the last year of the sixteenth century Queen Elizabeth granted letters-patent to a company of daring merchants tempted by the desire to travel afar to encounter the adventures of commerce. A capital had been subscribed of £30,000, divided into a hundred and one shares, the manage ment of which was confided to twenty-four members chosen by the shareholders. To trade in pepper and other spices was all that these adventurers had in view. In 1612, in order to pacify the Great Mogul, some of whose vessels had experienced some accidental annoyance on the part of the English subjects in the Red Sea, King James despatched a deputation of four ships to the Indian potentate. The deputation was favourably received at the Court of Delhi, and obtained permission to establish a factory at Surat. In 1624, the King of England invested the Government with authority to punish its servants abroad, either according to the civU laws or by means of courts-martial. Here com mences the transformation of a commercial association into a political corporation. In 1664, was granted a new charter, conferring upon that commercial association the right of peace and war, as regarded princes and nations " not Christian." They might have troops in their pay, these foreign traders, and might purchase or seU, sword in hand ! Their progress having been sufficiently rapid to justify them in raising their station at Madras into the rank of a Presidency, Charles IL, in 1668, ceded to them the island of Bombay, which had come into his hands as a portion of the dowry of Catherine of Portugal, In 1687, ten ships of various sizes, having a detachment of 48 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. infantry on board, anchored off the coast of Bengal. The men of the expedition attempting to fix themselves there, were attacked by the Nabob and repulsed ; and, at the same time, Aurungzeb, the' Great Mogul, being warned of what he must expect from these encroaching foreigners, prepared to crush them, and as a first step took possession of the factories ¦ at Surat, Musulipatam, and Vizigapatam. Shortly afterwards, the island of Bombay was attacked and half of it captured. John Child, the soul of the enterprise, was besieged in the fort, and through the streets of Bombay servants of the Company were paraded up and down with chains on their legs and an iron collar round their necks. The English were compeUed to humble themselves, and implore the clemency of the conqueror' — their representatives throwing themselves on their knees before him. Patience ! Patience ! They wiU take their revenge in good time, and terrible will be their reprisals ! Aurungzeb, touched with the humUiation of the Company, restored to them their former privileges. In 1713, the presidency of Bengal, subjected, since the death of Aurungzeb, to the depredations of Jaffier, sent a mission to the Court of Delhi loaded with some paltry presents for the Emperor, the novelty of which made them appear magnificent — writing desks, porcelain, lacquer ware, cutlery, five time pieces, twelve mirrors, and a terrestrial globe ! The Great Mogul and his courtiers were dazzled, though they liad their hands full of gold, though they walked upon diamonds. But, stiU more than by the deceptive sumptuousness of their presents, the East India Company were assisted by a circumstance as singular as it was unforeseen. Pascal had a theory that if Cleopatra's nose had been a little longer, the universe would have had different destinies. However great my respect for the genius of Pascal, I could find a good deal to urge against this, theory, which mistakes an opportunity for a cause. But it is undeniable that the history of the establishment of the English in India offers a curious example of the, at least, apparent influence of small things on great. At the time of the embassy in question, the Emperor was suffering from a disease which had baffled the skUl of the doctors of Agra and Delhi. Hamilton, the phy sician to the embassy, undertook to effect a cure, and suc ceeded ; and on being invited by his imperial patient to fix ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF BRITISH POWER IN INDIA. 49 his own price upon his services, he begged for the cession of the privUeges which his feUow-countrymen had come to soUcit. These privUeges were at once accorded, and for a long time were looked upon as constituting the great charter of the EngUsh in India. I need not remind you how, in 1748, India became the battle-field on which the lengthened rivalry between France and England developed itself with the greatest animosity. There was a moment when it might have been thought that India would fall to the French. It was when, in 1746, La Bour- donnais, after defeating Commodore Peyton, proceeded straight to Madras, at that time the principal estabUshment of the EngUsh, and took possession of it after a few days' siege. Who would not then have said that it was aU over with the British power in those distant regions ? Mistress of Chander- nagore, Pondicherry, and Madras, France had one foot in Bengal, and reigned without a rival along the whole of the Coromandel coast. Her influence was supreme at the Court of Hydrabad. Her power and her genius were represented in India by three of those men who weigh more in the scale of human affairs than gigantic armies and numerous fleets. There was La Bourdonnais, that admirable governor of the islands of France and Bourbon, that first-rate saUor, of whom it was said that he could build a ship with his own hands, and lead it, at wUl, either to fortune or to victory. There was the Marquis de Bussy, a supple and fiery spirit, for whom the labyrinths of poUtics had no secrets. There, too, was the great Joseph Dupleix, who had at once the head, the heart, and the arm of a founder of empires. By whom, then, was France vanquished in India? By France herself; by the rivalry between Dupleix and La Bourdonnais; by the recall of the former ; by the authorisation given to his suc cessor, Godchen, to conclude a treaty which amoimted to an imbecUe abandonment of every point in dispute ; and, lastly, by the sending out to India of the man best calculated to lose everything, the celebrated and unfortunate LaUy. Repulsed before Madras, which he had besieged, defeated at the battle of Wandewash, besieged at Pondicherry, and forced to sur render, LaUy pUed faults upon faiUts. These were expiated, as is only too weU known, on the Place de Greve ; but that bloody execution, which confounded incapacity with treason. 50 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. and against which Voltaire protested so eloquently, recovered nothing. India was not the less lost to France. And about this time Clive, after having raised up against the Nabob of Bengal a masked competitor, to whose treachery the English were indebted for the famous victory of Plassey, compeUed the traitor and usurper on whose head he had placed a crown, to cede to him the three provinces of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa. It is worthy of remark that, at the battle of Plassey, the army commanded by Clive was composed of 2000 Sepoys and only 900 Europeans ! From that moment the English began to unfold that poUcy of spoliation by stratagem, intrigue, and violence, which even in England aroused against Clive the indignation of all honourable men, reduced him to] defend his honour, and com pelled him, though declared innocent by the House of Commons, to commit suicide in despair. An interesting but mournful picture might be drawn of the means by which the East India Company, employing the services of such men as Warren Hastings, Lord CornwaUis, and Lord WeUesley, succeeded in winning the succession to the Moguls against the Mahrattas and that empire of Mysore wdth which the name of the heroic Tippoo-Saib wiU remain for ever associated. But for the object I have in view it is enough to state the result of those struggles, which gave to England, not only an immense realm to introduce into the sphere of civUisation, but also a rich prey to devour. LETTER LXX. THE OLD EAST INDIA COMPANY. May Ilth, 1862. The mechanism of the English rule in India exhibits such singularity of character as to merit some consideration. For a long time the East India Company governed their subjugated territories through the medium of twenty-four members chosen from among their number, and forming what was caUed the Court of Directors. It may be said that down THE OLD EAST INDIA COMPANY. Rl to 1773 the Court of Directors exercised in Hindostan a sovereignty without control ; but at that period an Act of Parliament enjoined that there should be a Governor- General resident in Bengal. A supreme Court of Judicature, with judges named by the Crown, was likewise estabUshed, and the administration of the Directors was thenceforth placed under the supervision of the State. In 17.84 Pitt carried the " India BiU," which tended stUl further to subordinate the power of the Company to that of the Ministry, by the appointment of a Board of Control for the Affairs of India. This Board was composed of six members chosen by the Crown, and was charged with tho superintendence of the territorial interests of the Company. By the India BiU, the nomination of the Governor-General of India, as weU as of the Presidents and Members of the ¦ Council, was conferred on the Directors, subject to the appro bation of the Government. The Commander-in-Chief, how ever, of the forces employed in India was appointed directly by the Crown, without interference on the part of the Directors. Since then, the power of recaUing the Governor- General has been assigned to the Ministry, so that at present the functions of Governor- Gen eral of India are held dependent on ministerial authority. It is very difficult for two influences that may, not unna turally, regard each other as rivals, to keep upon two paraUel lines. The various modiflcations successively introduced into the constitution of the Indian Government had all one object and result, the aggrandisement of the power of the Crown, to the prejudice of that of the Company. The foUowing was the state of things, as determined, the 20th-August, 1853, by an Act of Parliament, the purport of which few persons even in England know or remember. The number of Directors was fixed at eighteen, of whom the Queen had the right of appointing three — one for two years, one for four years, and one for six years. In addition to this, the Crown reserved to itself the right of fidling up the first three places that should become vacant, so that the number of Directors thus chosen would rise to six, while that of the other Directors would be twelve. AU the Directors named by the Crown, and six of those elected by the Company, must have served ten years in India. E 2 52 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. No one was eUgible for the dignity of Director unless his share in the Stock of the Company was at least £1000. The Directors of the Crown's choice were eUgible for a seat in Parliament. Before entering upon office, the Directors were obUged to take an oath couched in the foUowing form : — "I, A. B,, swear to be faithful to her Majesty Queen Victoria, and to do my utmost rightly to fulfU the duties which are assigned to me, as Director of the East India Com pany, in the administration of the Government of India con fided by the Crown, so help me God ! " At a general meeting of such members of the Company as were proprietors of Stock and entitled to a vote, it was required, before a resolution could be taken, that the number of members present should not be less than twenty. The Court of Directors were empowered, whenever they thought fit, to appoint over the Presidency of Bengal a Governor, who should not be Governor-General of India. It entered into the functions of the Court of Directors to create new Presidencies, and to change, when necessary, the Umits of the old ones. The nomination of every member of the CouncU of India was to be submitted for the Queen's approval. To the CouncU of India, for making laws and regulations, were added, under the name of Legislative CounseUors, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature established at Fort WiUiam in Bengal, and one of the Judges of the same Court. Laws or regulations emanating from the CouncU of India had no authority, and could not be promiUgated imtU after they had received the assent of the Governor-General, whether he had been present or not at the discussion. Throughout the territories subject to the Government of the East India Company, the value of aU judicial fines and of aU unclaimed inheritances belonged to the Company, without prejudice to the right conferred upon the Governor- General in CouncU to dispose in favour of whom he pleased, of property left without an owner, whether through forfeiture or through default of heirs. Whosoever might be named, by the Queen, Commander-in- Chief of the forces of the Crown in India, became, by virtue THE OLD EAST INDIA COMPANY. S3 of that nomination, Commander-in-Chief of the Company's forces. The force of European troops in the Company's pay, which was previously 12,000 men, might thereafter be raised to 20,000, if judged expedient by the Board of Control for the Affairs of India. The office of President of the Board of Control was on the same footing with a Chief Secretaryship of State. An annual sum of £1000 was assigned to the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Court of Directors ; the other Directors receiving £500 each. Untu that date the Court of Directors had enjoyed a considerable amount of patronage. The entrance of a stu dent into the Company's CoUege at Haileybury, or admis sion into the Company's forces in the quality of Assistant- Surgeon, depended entirely upon the exercise of this patron age. From that moment, however, aU was made to depend, at least in principle, upon an examination, the programme and conditions of which were determined by the Court of Control. Such, in a few words, was the tenor of the Act of the 20th August, 1853, which was a scarcely-masked encroachment of the power of the Crown upon the prerogatives of the Com pany. In reaUty, the government of India, dating from the Act of the 20th August, 1853, resided in the hands, not even of the members of the Board of Control, but of the personage who presided over it, and who was essentiaUy a Secretary of State for the Indian Department. This im portant functionary lorded it over the Court of Directors, and, under the shelter of an Act of ParUament, exercised over the destinies of a notable portion of the British Empire a far greater influence than is entrusted to royalty, there or else where. For example, he had the right of inspecting the correspondence of the Directors with their Indian servants in whatever related to tei-ritorial interests and poUtical questions. He could alter, correct, or hold back despatches prepared by the Directors. He was empowered to transmit orders, when ever he deemed fit, to the functionaries of the East India Company, without the consent of their ostensible Directors, and even without their knowledge. 54 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. Sucli of his instructions as he sent to the India House, solemnly marked "secret and political," passed under the eyes of only three members of the Court of Directors, constituting a Secret Committee, and these were bound by oath not to reveal a word to anyone whomsoever, not except ing their own colleagues. Instructions thus received were to Le immediately forwarded to the Company's servants in India, whose absolute duty, in thefr turn, was to obey without hesi tation or delay. I need not pause here to point out the dangers consequent upon a power so despotic, or the strangeness, of its very existence in a country whose constitutional susceptibilities have always been so marked. Such a power could not, therefore, faU to be sooner or later aboUshed. And so it happened. But have the obstacles which the very nature of things opposes to the good administration of those distant countries also necessarily disappeared ? Was there no political incon venience attached to the blow struck at a Company essentiaUy uninvolved in party disputes ? Has the constitutional system practicaUy gained much by having — in the place of men who, for the most part, had lived in India, who were acquainted ^^'ith India, and who had no other end in view, as the result of their labours, than the triumph of the commercial interests of their country — a Minister of State, who has to satisfy the cupidity of clique and party, to provide for friends, to secure dependents, and to reduce opponents to silence by casting a sop to them ? This may be fairly doubted. LETTER LXXI. THE LONDON INTEENATIONAL EXHIBITION. May 20th, 1862. Befoee again writing to you on the subject of the Exhi bition, I have been waiting tiU the first fervor of the public iiad calmed down, tiU the noise of the hammers had ceased, till the dust had descended and chaos unroUed itself, tiU light had THE LONDON INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. 55 broken in and aU was light. , But if in the matter of order I were to show myself hard to please, I fear that I should have to wait until eternity had passed. I have therefore made up my mind, and I now resume my pen. And, first of all, as I shaU have to guide through a real labyrinth such of your readers as have not ventured across the Channel since the 1st of May, I must begin by furnishing them with an Ariadne's clue. Without further preamble, therefore, I copy out from the Morning Star the plan of the building, a thing which the Greeks used to compare to the impression left upon the soil by the foot of man. c SI M F Z 20 H = ( 1-1 19 J 17 1 8 \9 10 15 1113 1314- 11 17 17 f K L ) D •( )" s 4 S 6 7 23 23 \ 2524 I 3 18 23 A Z 1 22 1 A, south entrance, by Cornwall Road ; B, east entrance, by Exhibition Road ; 0, west entrance, by Prince Albert Road ; D, the nave ; E, refreshment-room; F, east annex; G, west annex; H, west floor;; I, east floor ; J, the transept ; K, west dome ; L, east dome ; MJ, Horticultural Gardens ; N, cloak-room. Stairs leading to the galleries ; passages intersecting the different groups : 1, the United States; 2, Prussia; 3, the Zollverein; 4, France,; 6, Spain; 6, Portugal; 7, Italy ; 8, Belgium ; 9, Holland; 10, Switzer land ; 11, Denmark; 12, Norway; 13, Sweden; 14, Russia; 15, Turkey, Brazil, Greece ; 17, British possessions ; 18, Rome; 19, Austria ; 20—25, England. The Palace, of which the plan is now before you, presents an area of about 108,000 metres, including the Refreshment- 56 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. rooms and GaUeries of the Fine Arts. It is not space, there fore, that is wanting. I remember that when Victor Hugo came to London, we went together to see the town and its monuments. When we arrived before St. Paul's, he probably thought my admiration for that celebrated church a Uttle exaggerated, for he said to me, with a laugh : " WeU, weU ! It is the Val de Grace, after eating mussels." I cannot exactly say which of our French buUdings resembles this Exhibition Palace, in which brick, wood, iron, and glass, strive to live together in harmony ; but that it has been eating mussels, is beyond aU doubt. It is a thing puffed out, colossal, immense. But not every thing immense is necessarUy grand. It is easy for the Times to declare that to be very beautiful to-day which it pronounced to be very ugly not a month ago. .The variations of the Times, indeed, are one of its habitual sins, one of its very laws of existence. For my part, however, I beg respectfuUy to adhere to my first impression. That this enormous construction, which covers sixteen acres of ground, has been run up in twelve months, whUe the Houses of Parliament, which cover at the most seven acres, have taken twenty-five years to be brought to completion,— I freely admit, and I grant that it woiUd be unfair to demand ofthe former of these edifices, which has cost only £430,000, what might be rightly expected in the latter, which has cost upwards of 2^ milUons sterling. If, then, the Exhibition buUdings are preserved, there is a considerable margin for embeUishments ; but it remains to be seen whether, or not, these decorations vdU ever succeed in giving to this hastUy run-up edifice a truly monumental character. But how about the domes — those glass domes, which are 160 English feet in diameter, and 250 feet in height; those domes, the largest that the architectural art has ever boasted of? If it is upon them that Captain Fowke' s admirers pro pose to found his claim to glory as an architect, they ought to be satisfied ; for, before posterity has been caUed upon to speak for him, the frequenters of South Kensington already designate him by the title of Major-Domo — for Captain, or Major, is much the same thing. But let us leave the exterior where it is. The interior invites us within. THE LONDON INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. 57 Let us enter. "Your ticket, Sir?" "Here it is." "AU right." Such is the regular dialogue that ensues between the visitor and the poUceman. You have then to do with the turn-stile, an ingenious piece of mechanism, contrived with the intention of making the ladies feel the inconvenience of their crinoUnes, and which does not altogether spare the sterner sex. I have been told that Sir Richard Mayne one day, having forgotten his ticket, was stopped at the entrance. He naturaUy thought that a high functionary is acting up to his character when he leaps over obstacles which inferior mortals have to turn aside. He therefore sprang over the barrier. But industry under stands the heroism of the watchword quite as weU as war does ; and if the story be not a mere fable, there was one there who said to Sir Richard Mayne what a soldier, that pearl of sentinels, one day said to Napoleon : " Eh ! quand tu serais le Petit Caporal, tu ne passeras pas." I took good care, therefore, to be provided with my ticket, which at once procured me the satisfaction of hearing the saving words : "AU right!" Let us suppose that your readers and myself are now inside. How different was my emotion the first time I set foot within that Crystal Palace of 1851, evidently the handiwork of a fairy ! There was in it an idea of mysterious and unlooked- for grandeur which at once seized upon your imagination. The general aspect was not less charming than imposing. Here, there is nothing of the kind. You are astonished, on entering, that you are not astonished. The visitor who enters by the east door, the one opening into the Exhibition Road, expects to see a grand interminable nave stretching majestically before him. Not at aU. After running the risk of breaking his nose against a group of four statues, one of which is lying on the ground in its packing, whUe the three others, erect, appear to be asking one another what place wiU be assigned to them, and whether they wiU be provided with a pedestal ; after making a circuit to avoid running against the workmen who are employed in erecting under the east dome a fountain, of which wonderful things are announced, but which is not yet finished ; after descending the steps which lead down to the 53 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. nave, the visitor beholds with some dismay the path he has to traverse obstructed by aU kinds of machines, cast-iron pUlars> trays, stands, omniums, and such-Uke objects. He fancied he was about to enter a magnificent palace, but finds himself in a bazaar, and a bazaar in which the confusion of tongues speaks to the eyes through a confusion of products. The blocking up of Cheapside during the busiest hours of the day is, as the EngUsh express it, a great nuisance ; but, after aU, the bustling crowd which there presses upon you from all sides, is composed of waves which divide themselves ; and though you may be nailed to one spot for a quarter of an hour at a time by the disheartening mob of omnibuses, cabrio lets, cabs, tUburys, and waggons, you are never absolutely driven to despair, because men, omnibuses, cabs, tilburys, and waggons, are, in the end, obstacles that are in ihotion ; but the trophies which encumber the nave are obstacles that are immovable. I have just used the word " trophy," but you must not fancy that in the international language of the Exhibition a trophy signifies the spoils of a vanquished foe, or even a col lection of weapons artisticaUy arranged to consecrate the memory of a great battle won. No : I wiU show you pre sently what is meant by a trophy, if you wiU walk down the nave with me from east to west. Let us leave on our right-hand that waterless fountain, and on the left that obelisk of granite ; let us try to keep along as weU as we can beside this model of the 'Warrior, then by this forest of bayonets, then past this cannon, which seems as if it were pointed against the Ughthouse, placed on the same Une with itself in the very middle of the gangway — an ingenious allusion, probably, to the relations which exist between brute force and intelligence ; let us pass, as weU as we can, between this display of stuffs and that display of leathers, between these telescopes and those furs guarded by a tiger which, with open jaws, appears eager to devour us: take care of this gun-carriage ; take care of that brougham. At last, Heaven be praised, here we are before a model trophy. What do you think of this species of pyramid with its decorations of plants and flowers ; with that Victory, on the top, standing upon a blue baU ; with this vase formed ^of shells and flowers ; with these heads of ox, ram, and . deer, THE LONDON INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. 59 over which three puflFy angels are pouring out three cornu copias ; with these compartments deUcately fiUed with biscuits, soaps, cigars, wafers, tooth-picks, candles, and pickled gherkins ? Behold a monument to the victories won by grocery ! Behold a trophy ! And on a line with it, to the left, do you see that imposing collection of canes, combs, brushes, and bougies ? That, too, is a trophy. Let us move on, if you please. That display of little doUs, little cardboard horses and carriages aU a penny a piece, is another trophy. Children, I hope, wiU not now complain of having been forgotten. In truth, among the objects which obstruct the nave, all do not deserve to be classed in the same category. In front of the Italian Court, for instance — the independence of which hag been placed under the protection of a bust of Victor Emanuel and a fuU-length statue of Garibaldi, who also stands at the entrance to this same Court, holding a flag in one hand and a sword in the other — a rich exhibition of Italian furniture attracts attention; sumptuous beds and arm-chairs, sideboards in carved wood, tables of Florentine mosaic, &c. Well and good. One thing in the nave that causes much obstruction is the table on which are shown the musical boxes manufactured at Geneva. . The reason is very simple. The crowd gathered together at this point is always very great. Ladies especiaUy are very fond of the treat which the genius of mechanism appUed to music has provided for them. Picture to yourself a Uttle box which could be contained in your waistcoat pocket. As soon as this magical bpx is opened, there hops out a pretty bullfinch, which shakes its wings like life, ancl pipes deUghtfuUy. You may well imagine that ladies are not Ukely to care about impeding the circulation, when they want to see and hear him ! Hurrah for the musical boxes of Geneva ! Neither can I flnd fault with France for encroaching upon the nave, since it has been decided that the nave should not be kept free. In a previous letter, before it was exactly known what would be the number of exhibitors of the diffe rent countries, and before the list was complete, I told you that the number of French exhibitors would exceeed 4000; and that my calculation was not far out, is proved by the fact that the official figure is 4780. Four thousand seven hundred and 60 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. eighty exhibitors is a good many, and though of the 108,000 square metres which were to be disposed of, France obtained 13,740, it is not surprising that she should have felt herself somewhat confined, and have been unwUUng to yield an inch of the conceded space. Her advanced posts, therefore, are in the nave — not in the middle so as to intercept the view, or impede the circulation, but at the side and paraUel to the Une which unites the two domes. I may add that the objects which do encroach upon the nave give an exceUent idea of the treasures which are laid out behind them in the French Courts and gaUeries. First of aU, there is a superb carpet of the Aubusson manufacture, exhibited by Braquenie Brothers, the subject being, " The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood." After that comes a rich assortment of ftirniture exhibited by M. Fourdinois. The handsomest is a small ebony cabinet, of the renaissance order. As a specimen of workmanship nothing can be more exquisite. The drawers are inlaid with ivory. The aUegorical figures — to wit, Abundance and Peace, Mars and Minerva, ApoUo and Diana, are admirably finished, as weU as the pannel which represents the " Rape of Proserpine." This cabinet has been sold for no less than £1400. Such a price sums up a miUtitude of eulogiums. On the same Une imagine a beautiful chimney-piece of sea-green marble, wath bronze figures. The middle pannel represents the chase, one of the statues at the side symbol ising the setting out, and the other the return. Two chUdren, Morning and Evening, are seen leaning towards each other from the opposite sides of a void which wUl be fiUed by the works of a time-piece. A reproduction of ancient armour, flanked by two lions, which show their teeth between, two splendid lustres, under which you pass to penetrate into the sanctuary of French industry, separates the treasures exhibited by M. Fourdinois ¦ from the monumental chimney-piece and bronzes of M. Marchand. AU this, I repeat, has a very fine appearance, and inspires promenaders in the nave with a lively desire to leave it and plunge into the French Court. The Exhibition is a world. It is therefore impossible for me to give you to-day a general notice of it ; still less am I in a position to offer any sort of judgment upon the industrial THE LONDON INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. 61 objects exposed to view. I heard it remarked by a con noisseur, and an impartial connoisseur, that when the progress respectively made by France and England came to be seriously compared, it would be seen that there had been a tendency on the part of the French to descend from art to industry, and on the part of the EngUsh to rise from industry to art. But this remark reqmres to be verified, and I repeat it with every reservation. I have not yet had time, as you may suppose, to do more than hurry through the different parts of the immense labyrinth. AU that I have thus far been able to observe is, that neither France nor England have lost any of the good quaUties which characterise them. Belgium makes an exceUent figure in the Exhibition, as weU by her paintings and statues as by the objects of her industry ; and I expect that, in the comparative appreciation of the different nations, she wUl occupy a larger place than she does on the map. Austria, which, composed of four successive courts, has shut herself, as it were, within a second fortress of Verona, has been ingenious enough to display, in a manner to attract attention from afar, aU that she possesses in lustres, cande labra, and chandeUers. At the entrance of her fortress, so richly provisioned with objects of art, there is a blaze of light. We are assured that the ZoUverein has treasures to show, but unfortunately it has not yet shown anything, through defective arrangement. What is seen is what might have been hidden, and what is hidden ought to have been brought into sight. Such a reproach as that would never be addressed to Frenchmen. AustraUa, a great nation sprung up, so to speak, in one night like a mushroom, astonishes every one who visits that Court. How rapidly do people grow in the age in which we Uve. And Italy ? Italy is more than ever Italy : that is saying everything. Even Rome, stifled as she is in the Papal embrace, commands our admiration quite as much as our respectful sympathy. I have never once gone into the Roman Court without finding it crowded with visitors. This Roman Court, in the Exhibition Palace, is, as it were, a smaU weU-sheltered sanctuary, calm, smiling, and yet 62 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. melancholy. You may there draw in deep draughts of art. Down the centre, precious objects, coffers encased in gold, and tables of mosaic, especially one presented by the Pope to the Queen of England ; aU around, a world of graceful statues. One group particularly struck me. It represents an old gipsy-woman teUing a young girl her fortune. The fortune-teller's expression is admirable; it seems to embody the falsehood which, through force of habit, has ended in being taken for the truth. The young girl smUes in her curiosity. By one so innocent no fear can be felt of un pleasant predictions. But what chiefly attracts public atten tion is the Sibyl and the Cleopatra, fine statues, both of them. Were I justified in hazarding a criticism, I should say that this Cleopatra, so much admired and so worthy of admfration, appears to have the fault of being too Egyptian, and not sufficiently voluptuous to be altogether historical. I am not certain that Antony, that sensual captain, would have lost, for the sake of such a grave Cleopatra, the battle of Actium and the empire of the world. While I am on the subject of the statues round which people gather in crowds, I must not forget the Venus of the celebrated sculptor, Gibson. It is slightly, very sUghtly, tinted — not more than is required to distinguish a rosy skin from a white drapery, and it is exposed to the admiration of the profane in a miniature shrine, of Grecian form, which Mr. Owen Jones has raised to her honour, taking care to conform to the rules of polychromatic architecture. Is Mr. Owen Jones right, or wrong ? I leave that question to be solved by more learned critics, but I imagine that M. Charles Blanc will knit his brows, while M. Hittorf wiU clap his hands. What is certain as regards Mr. Gibson's statue is, that the tint which he has given to his Venus is such that it will hardly, on the ground of its own merits, caU forth either a very warm protest from one school, or very noisy demon strations of applause from the other. It is, doubtless, a step towards polychromy- — but such a timid step ! I wiU also mention, as a remarkable work, a group ex hibited by M. John-Petter Molin, a Swedish sculptor. It represents two men wrestling together, each armed with a knife. Nothing can be more energetic, more striking, more expressive. This group is in the nave, near the open space THE LONDON INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. 63 which extends beneath the western cupola. On the same side, at the end and in the middle of the nave, is a " Venus issuing from the Sea"- — due to the chisel of a Belgian sculp tor, M. Fraykin. The body and the face are charming, and the attitude is graceful. But why that flowing drapery which, with one arm, Venus is drawing over her head ? If Venus ever exhibited herself quite naked, it was assuredly when she issued from the wave. I would wdlUngly mount from the ground-floor to the gal leries, to speak to you about the paintings; but our friend and coUeague Biirger is here, and I have no wish to trespass on his grounds. I ask his permission, however, to say- — subject to his superior judgment- — that the French School does not shine in aU its glory in the Exhibition. Ary Scheffer, Flandrin, Eugene Delacroix, Delaroche, Gudin, and Meisson- nier are represented by paintings, the number and quality of which, as I conceive, afford a very insufficient idea of the fecundity and power of their genius. The Source of M. Ingres is a marvel. Never was a young girl dreamed more chaste and more lovely by a poet's heart. But we look for more than one ring in a casket. Mademoiselle Rosa Bonheur, if I mistake not, has only one picture at the Exhibition. The English wiU regret this, you may rest assured, for they are passionate admirers of Mademoiselle Rosa Bonheur's pictures. What they do not like, is the far too great a number, as they think, of our miUtary pieces. The heroes in red trousers, by M. Horace Vernet and M. Yvon, are not very much to their taste. And, to tell the truth, the French School, of late, has made a great expenditure of powder. There is the Bataille de I'Alma, then the Bataille de Solferino, then the Courtine de Malakoff, then the Gorge de Malakoff, then the Attaque de Malakoff, and, what is stiU more serious, M. Bellange offers, as a subject of admiration to the loyal sub jects of Victoria, a Carre d'Infanterie republicaine repoussant les dragons autrichiens en 1795. That the English School presents itself in a more imposing light, cannot possibly be denied. What is there surprising in that ? Has not England, in the present contest, caUed the past to her aid ? Has she not commissioned the dead to slay the Uving ? I am ready to bow down even to the ground before the author of the six dramas entitled Marriage a la 64 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. Mode; but Hogarth was born in 1697, and died in 1764. I know nothing more ideal than these angels' heads — nothing sweeter or more charming than this portrait of Georgiana Spencer, Duchess of Devonshire; but Sfr Joshua Reynolds did not live to see the end. of the eighteenth century. The Blue Boy is a trick of art which enchants me ; but Gains borough belongs to times that are no longer. Turner's pic tures are admfrable, beyond contradiction; but since the English have resuscitated him, they should aUow us also to recall to Ufe, to oppose him, his great master, Claude Lorrain. I leave to our coUeague, Burger, the task of saying to you about aU this what is best to be said. I leave to him the task of passing in review the other exhibitions of paintings, particularly the Belgian, the treasures of which are ranged with perfect taste, and to which pubUc attention is irresistibly attracted by the dramatic paintings of Gallait, the Paul Dela roche of Belgium; by those of the learned and profound painter, Leys ; and, lastly, by the social sketches which the skUful hand of Madou has so cleverly depicted. Every man to his own department. Besides, how is it possible to describe so many things in one day? This letter is long, and life is short. LETTER LXXIL HOW THE IDEA OF MEDIATION WAS EECEIVED IN ENGLAND. June 19th, 1862. With what rapturous eagerness has the idea of a mediation between the Northern and Southern States in America, that is, of a mediation by France alone, been greeted by those EngUsh who are above aU things English ! With what cer tainty, with what rapidity of instinct, have they applauded a project, aU the embarrassments and all the perUs of which would be for us, while aU the advantages would be for them ! There are certainly in England, and it gives me pleasure to say so, noble minds and generous souls. In this camp the idea of a mediation has not been favourably received, because HOW THE IDEA OF MEDIATION WAS RECEIVED. 65 there, no desire prevails that France should set fire to the world and perish in the conflagration ; because there sympathy is felt for the cause which is not dishonoured by slavery ; be cause there it would be a subject of regret that the sword which was drawn for the independence of Italy should be raised against the great republic of the United States, at the very moment that that Republic is undergoing its sorest trial. The language of the Daily News and of the Morning Star has some thing in it which reaUy refreshes the- soul ; and I read, not long ago, an article on the quarrel that rends asunder the New World, which shows unmistakably that on this side of the Channel there are great thinkers who do not separate the interests of their country from those of justice. That article was written by John Stuart MiU. But in England, as everywhere, men are to be found who never decide any questions except according to the sense of narrow national interests ; and these have naturaUy abstained from blaming a project which, as they hope, is very likely to lead us from the offer of a mediation to its refusal ; from its refusal to a spfrit of bitterness ; from a spirit of bitterness to menace ; from menace to resistance ; from resistance to war. The United States have presented the example of a de mocracy extending its laws far and wide, and commanding respect over the whole surface of the globe. The United States have astonished and disquieted England by the extra ordinary development of their power, — a rival power, too, since its principles are industry and commerce, and its means and end the possession of the seas. A great commercial and maritime democracy was more than enough to cause a cruel anxiety to the EngUsh aristocracy. How, then, could this aristocracy faU to be pleased with whatever tended to weaken, if not to ruin, by each other's hands, the two nations of the earth it dreads the most ? If it were at aU reasonable to expect the success of a mediation at the point to which things have now come, the approval bestowed upon this idea by so many organs of public opinion in this country, might be attributed to a pure motive of humanity and to views of general interest. How, in fact, would it be possible not to lament the continuance of this frightful war, which, of the two worlds between which the human race is divided, fills the New with blood and starves 63 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. the Old ? But if such was the case, is it not manifest that England would hasten to unite her efforts to those of France ? For if there be a country for which it is impossible, without a painful effort of resignation, to cross its arms and let alone, it is this one. Ask the famished artisans of Lancashfre what they think of it. But no. The more it is desired that we should intervene, the greater is the repugnance to join in this intervention. Let us Usten to what is said on this sub ject. It would be comical, if it were not so sad. Why should the EngUsh assume the attitude of mediators ? They would very gladly do so, without doubt, if there were the slightest chance of thefr being listened to ; but does this chance exist ? Who is ignorant of the sentiments with which Washington and New York are animated towards England ? Any offer of mediation on her part would be regarded as an insult. On the other hand, how well situated is France for inter posing her good offices ! She is not only respected on the other side of the Atlantic, but loved. To her, then, belongs the glorious privUege of restoring peace to America and cotton to Europe ! Thus speaks the Times ; thus speak the journals in its train ; thus speak the poUtieians of the clubs and the drawing- rooms. Why ? The reason is obvious. People pretend not to be aware, but know perfectly weU, that the Mexican expedition is not at all to the taste of the Northern republicans ; that it has awakened among them alarm mingled with a Uvely resentment ; and if ever a mediation on the part of France had little chance of being favourably received at Washington, it is precisely at this moment, when, rudely pushing aside the Monroe doctrine, the French Government is extending its hand over Mexico. It is not, then, because French mediation promises to be suc cessful that it is desired; but, on the contrary, because it threatens not to succeed. And mark the contradiction ! The same journals which extol beforehand the results to be anticipated, from our good offices, are inexhaustible when they are labouring to show how inevitable the separation has become, and dilate upon the virulence, the depth, the inexorablenesss of the animosities let loose by the civil war beyond the Atlantic. They repeat in every key that to vanquish the South is a doubtful matter ; HOW THE IDEA OF MEDIATION WAS RECEIVED. 67 but to subdue it an impossibUity : so impassable henceforth is the abyss dug between the North and the South ! They dwell with complacency upon the significance of the indomitable attitude of the people of New Orleans, and they insist upon the brutaUty of the means the conquerors are compeUed to use in the act of crushing the spirit of the conquered. They draw attention to the fact that General Butler, being unable to prevent the women in the vanquished city from insulting the soldiers and spitting on the ground when passing the flag, was not ashamed to issue an order that in such cases " they should be treated as courtesans.'' They remind thefr readers that General Wool threatened the people of Norfolk to stop aU trade, if the spirit of revolt did not aUow him some re spite, a measure which they compare to one that should order prisoners of war to die of inanition. They point to General Fremont, reduced to proclaim, as the only means of pacifying Missouri, that, over a surface of country as extensive as Eng land, every man found with arms in his possession shaU be put to death. And from all this they are pleased to conclude that between the two parties at strife no concUiation is pos sible, and that the war is a war to the knife. ReaUy, to urge us to intervene, after depicting the state of things in America under such colours, is mockery. It is, besides, certain that the EngUsh Governinent has not yet shown any disposition to depart from passive neu trality. On a recent occasion, Lord Russell, replying to Lord Car narvon, in the House of Lords, did not confine himself, as he might have done, and as Lord Palmerston would have done in his place, to the statement that the rumour in question was without foundation. He avaUed himself of the opportunity strongly to condemn the idea of a mediation imder the existing cfrcumstances ; and this idea he condemned, Uke an honest man as he is, not alone from the point of view of England, but from that of the general interest. He, at least, does not think it right that France should attempt what he does not wish to see attempted by England. It would be very desfrable that we could say of political men in general what the Times says of Lord RusseU, that they are out-spoken. I cannot aUude to what has been done in Parliament with reference to the affafrs of America without mentioning p 2 68 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. the energetic maimer in which, amidst the applause of the House of Commons, Lord Palmerston branded the unworthy proclamation of General Butler. Lord Palmerston did not hesitate to qualify this proclamation as infamous. " An Englishman," he exclaimed, " must feel the blood mount to his forehead to think that such an act could have been com mitted by a man of the Anglo-Saxon race." And he went on in the same tone, concluding with this threatening sentence : " As to the part which her Majesty wiU take (in the event of the proclamation not being disavowed by the Washington Government), the House wiU permit me to say that it is a matter for reflection." It is worthy of remark that, in the House of Lords, Lord RusseU expressed himself on the same subject in terms in finitely less impassioned. Without justifying in the sUghtest degree General Butler's proclamation, he condemned it in such a manner as to leave it to be understood that it belonged to the category of those barbarous usages of warfare which civUisa tion ought to do away with. Moreover, he took care to explain that, according to the police regulations in force at New Orleans, women of bad character who commit any disorder in the streets are sent to prison, so that the sense of the proclama tion may weU be no more than this : " Every woman who shaU insult American officers and soldiers wiU be liable to imprisonment." In fine. Lord RusseU did not appear to have any doubt but that the Government of the United States, for its own sake, would hasten to disavow an act for whieh, thus far, General Butler alone is responsible. If I mistake not, it requires only to compare Lord RusseU's language with that of Lord Palmerston, to come to the con clusion that they do not tread in precisely the same footsteps. No wonder: the latter in leaning to the South is in his part as a Tory minister, for at the bottom of his heart Lord Palmerston is a Tory, just as the former is in his part as a Liberal minister in leaning to the North. SOCIAL SCIENCE UNDER THE LAMP. 69 LETTER LXXIIL SOCIAL SCIENCE ITNDEE THE LAMP. June 20th, 1862. The Association for the Advancement of Social Science — an association to which, I may parenthetically remark, I have the honour to belong — dates frorn the year 1857. It was founded by Lord Brougham, a veteran who, Uke Lord Pal merston, seems gifted with eternal youth, and whose activity knows neither fatigue nor repose. The consideration of the best means of amending the laws, of enlarging and purifying the sources of human knowledge, of preventing and suppressing crime, of reforming the cri minal, of providing for the pubUc health, and of placing poUtical economy upon its true basis — such is the object of the association. The mode of procedure proposed from the commencement was to consist in the annual meetings of societies, or indivi duals, which should take up the solution of these interesting problems, and at which the speakers shoiUd labour to throw the Ught of a profound discussion on aU doubtful and obscure points. It was decided that the Association should be divided into five departments, and that Lord RusseU should manage the one pertaining to jurisprudence ; Sfr John Pakington, the one devoted to education ; the Bishop of London, the one relating to the reformation of criminals ; Lord Stanley, the one concerning pubUc health; and Lord Lyttelton, the one deaUng with social economy. In this manner the movement took its rise, and you wiU observe the rank of those who, from the commencement, were thought fit to guide it. This is characteristic of the EngUsh aristocracy, and iUus- trates the secret of its power. Far from opposing itself syste- maticaUy to aU progress, as did our ancient French nobUity, who remained intrenched behind the prejudices of the olden times as in a fortified castle, the EngUsh aristocracy watches the progress of ideas, so as to make it subservient to its own interests. 70 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. Among the questions of a nature to occupy, or move, the public mind, few can be named that are not in some way associated with a great name. Is it proposed to open schools for the indigent, to improve the sanitary condition of the dis tricts inhabited by the poor, to limit the labour of women and children in manufactories, to extend the benefits of education, the names of Lord Shaftesbury, of Lord CarUsle, of Earl Grey, of Lord Stanley, of Sir John Pakington, of Lord Brougham, &c., spontaneously present themselves. Is it not a thing to strike the imagination, that personages placed on sucji lofty pedestals should be induced to descend from them to visit the depths of the social system, lamp in hand ? Not that we are to suppose them ambitious of the perUous glory which awaits and punishes innovators. If I might be aUowed to say aU I think, I should express a suspicion that at the bottom of the object I have mentioned lurks a hidden intention of opposing to the influence of certain ideas which are to be feared, a rival influence developing itself with some ostentation. But what matter ? The essential point is, that problems which demand solution should be fafrly taken up, one way or another. The essential point is, that Truth should run no risk of being either stifled by silence, or of remaining too long entombed in night. Let every torch be kindled, — Truth wiU herself see to the rest. LETTER LXXIV. THE IMPEEIAL GOVEENMENT AND ENGLAND IN MEXICO. The English at Orizaba withdrew from the common action, because Article 2 of the Convention of the 31st October, which determined the end and regulated the conditions of the common action, was conceived in these terms : — " The high contracting parties engage not to seek for them selves, in the employment of the coercive measures contem plated by the present Convention, any acquisition of territory, nor any special advantage, and not to exercise in the internal THE IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT AND ENGLAND IN MEXICO. 71 affafrs of Mexico any influence of a nature to prejudice the right of the Mexican nation to choose and to constitute freely the form of its Government." The EngUsh withdrew at Orizaba from the common action, because, so far as they were concerned, the object of the expedition to Mexico, as it was clearly defined by the Queen at the opening of ParUament, was to obtain, if necessary by force, from the Mexican Government reparations thus far refused to diplomacy : nothing less, but nothing more. The EngUsh withdrew at Orizaba from the common action, because, so far back as the 30th September, 1861, Earl Russell, in a very remarkable despatch to Lord Cowley, had enimciated in the foUowing terms the views of England : — " To forcible interference in the internal affafrs of an in dependent nation her Majesty's Govemment are, on principle, opposed. It remains to be considered whether Mexico forms an exception to the general rule. Undoubtedly, in regard to the evils to be remedied, few cases of internal anarchy, blood shed, and murder, can exceed the atrocities perpetrated in Mexico. But, on the other hand, there is no case in which a remedy by foreign interference appears so hopeless. The contending factions are spread over a vast extent of country ; they do not obey any one, two, or three chiefs, but are split into fragments, each of which robs, piUages, and murders on its own account. No foreign army would be Ukely to establish any permanent or pervading authority over these scattered bodies. In the next place, the Spanish troops, which form the most avaUable force for the occupation of any forts or positions which may be taken, are peculiarly an object of disUke and apprehension to one of the two parties which divide the country. This dislike arises from a fear that the power of a dominant Church might be restored, with the abuses and reUgious intolerance which accompany it. For opposite reasons, British interference would be just as odious to the Church party. I may add to these reasons, the universal alarm which would be excited, both in the United States and in the Southern States, at the contemplation of European interference in the domestic quarrels of an American in dependent repubUc. Without at aU yielding to the extra vagant pretensions implied by what is caUed the Monroe doctrine^ it would be, as a matter of expediency, unwise to 72 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. provoke the iU feeling of North America, unless some para mount object were in prospect, and tolerably sure of attain ment. The Spanish Government are of opinion that the successful action of Great Britain, France, and Spain to en force their just demands would induce the Mexicans to in stitute a Government more capable than any which has lately existed, to preserve the relations of peace and friendship with foreign powers. Should such be the indirect effect of naval and miUtary operations, her Majesty's Government would cordiaUy rejoice ; but they think this effect is more likely to foUow a conduct studiously observant of the respect due to an independent nation, than to be the result of an attempt to improve by foreign force the domestic institutions of Mexico." — (Correspondence respecting the Affairs of Mexico, p. 94.) This is what everybody may read in the "Blue Book" respecting the affairs of Mexico, which is lying before me, and from which I am translating literaUy. One may also read there, in a despatch from Lord Cowley to Earl RusseU, under date of the 3rd October, the foUowing explanations given by M. Thouvenel to the English ambas sador : — " M. Thouvenel said that he had made no proposal to im pose or to influence by an armed force, an arbitration in the internal affafrs of Mexico. He had thought it very Ukely that the employment of force for those legitimate purposes which the British and French Governments had in view, might encourage the well-disposed part of the Mexican people, who might feel the gaU of the yoke to which they were sub jected, to profit by the moment to throw it off, and to substitute something better in its place." — (P. 95.) Compare the words of M. Thouvenel with the language of Earl RusseU in his despatch of the 30th of September, 1861, and with the purport of Article 2 of the Convention ofthe 31st of October, and you will have the secret of the motives which put an end to the common action of the French and English Governments. The reason is clear enough, and the Patrie had reaUy no occasion to look for others. It may be asked, perhaps, why Lord RusseU, knowing how far his views differed from M. Thouvenel's, did not from the beginning refuse to be a party to an impossible concert ? There is ground for believing that it came about through a THE IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT AND ENGLAND IN MEXICO. 73 misunderstanding, the key to which appears to be given in the foUowing despatch from Lord Cowley to Lord RusseU ; it is dated the 10th of October, 1861 : — " I saw M. Thouvenel this afternoon on the subject of the proposed Convention for regulating the joint action of Great Britain, France, and Spain, in the expedition to be undertaken against Mexico, and I read to him your Lordship's despatch of the 5th instant upon the subject, received this morning. M. Thouvenel said that he was quite ready to join her Ma jesty's Government in signing a Convention for the purposes recited by your Lordship ; that he agreed entirely in the principles which your Lordship had laid down as those which should guide the action of the AlUed Powers. M. Thouvenel disclaimed, as he had done on a former occasion, any desire to impose any particular form of Government in Mexico." — (Page 98.) Earl RusseU] no doubt beUeved, after that, that the two Governments had come to a mutual understanding on the question which he had so much at heart. However, in order that no obscurity might veil his views, he repUed to Earl Cowley on the 12th of October. 1861 : — " I have to state to your Excellency that her Majesty's Government consider an engagement not to interfere by force in the internal affairs of Mexico, to be an essential part of the Convention." — (Page 98.) As to Spain, what results from the study of the " Blue Book" is, that her opinion, previous to being gained over by England, had fluctuated between that of M. Thouvenel and that of Earl RusseU. All that there is to be said on this subject is set forth in that heavy and lumbering phraseology which charac terises the diplomatic style, but nevertheless with sufficient clearness, in a despatch of the 9th of October, 1861, addressed by Sfr J. Crompton to Earl Russell : — " The Spanish Government, M. Calderon said, were very wiUing to conclude with England and France a Convention for the objects which I had stated to him, on the part of her Majesty's Government. They agreed to the insertion of an article in the Convention to the effect that the forces of the high contracting parties should not be employed for any ulterior object. Spain, his ExceUency remarked, had no such object in view : she neither sought to reconquer any part of 74 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. Mexico, or to re-estabUsh a monarchical government there in favour of any European prince or other person ; nor hacl she any intention of endeavouring to place one or other of the contending factions in Mexico at the head of the government of the republic. The Spanish Government felt no difficulty, therefore, in co.ncurring with her Majesty's Government in the opinion that no armed intervention in the internal govern ment of Mexico should be attempted. The only point, con sequently, in regard to which it could perceive any shade of difference in the views of her Majesty's Government and those of Spain, in this respect, was that her Catholic Majesty's Government was of opinion that, considering the great in fluence which must necessarily be exercised by the very pre sence of the combined forces of England, France, and Spain upon the internal state of Mexico, it would be well that they should endeavour to profit by the impression which could not fail to be created thereby upon the Mexican people, to exer cise a moral influence upon the contending parties, with a view of inducing them to lay down their arms, and come to an understanding for the formation of a Government which might offer some guarantee to the aUies for the fulfilment of the engagements of Mexico towards their respective Govern ments, for a better observance of her international duties in future, and one which would afford some prospect at least of a cessation of the miseries to which that unfortunate counfry had so long been exposed. This, his ExceUency said, he thought the Three Powers were bound in honour to attempt, both on the grounds of humanity and of policy ; and perhaps more on the ground of humanity than of policy. * * * I remarked, in reply, that I did not doubt her Majesty's Govern ment would entfrely concur with his ExceUency in thinking that the object which he proposed to himself was both a poUtic and a humane one : and if by moral influence was meant the offer of advice to the Mexican Government to refrain from civU strife; her Majesty's Govemment would, I felt sure, not hesitate now to do, conjointly with Spain and France, what they had done singly on more than one occa sion. If, however, more than this was intended by the Spanish Government, I said I felt at a loss to comprehend how any real change in the state of Mexico could be effected without the appUcation of actual force, or without exerting the THE IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT AND ENGLAND IN MEXICO. 75 influence of the intervening powers in favour of one or the other of the contending factions. Besides this, it appeared evident to me that the object proposed, if it were to be effected at aU, must be the work of time, and, consequently, could not be effected within any definite period. I therefore inqufred whether the Spanish Government contemplated the con tinuance of the occupation of the Mexican ports until a Government, such as they desfred to see estabUshed in Mexico, should be constituted. M. Calderon replied, certainly not; the Spanish occupation woiUd be limited to what was necessary for obtaining the redress of wrongs inflicted upon Spanish subjects, and satisfaction for acts inconsistent with the rights and dignity of the Spanish Govemment ; and would, if possible, not be prolonged beyond the period at which the cUmate would render the stay of the troops and vessels dangerous to thefr health and safety." — (Pages 99, 100.) Such are the documents bearing on the case. I need not multiply extracts — the preceding wUl suffice. The English, moreover, do not appear to me to trouble themselves much about the French expedition to Mexico ; no, they find no great difficulty in making up their minds to it, convinced as they are that the consequences cannot be other wise than disastrous to us. On this point the Times expressed the pubUc feeUng when it exclaimed the other day : "Go your own way, gentlemen; stand upon no ceremony; after all, it is your own affair, and, if you suffer for it, it wUl not have been our fault." The question, indeed, is not, shaU we sweU the Ust of our mUitary successes ? It is not, wiU our incomparable army once more show itself to be such as the world saw it in the Crimea and in Italy ? WUl it drive aU before it ? WUl it enter in triumph into Mexico ? Who could ever have had a doubt upon these points ? But afterwards ? Is it certain that the opinion of other nations, concerning the merits of such an enterprise, wUl harmonise«with that of the French Govemment ? Is it certain that Spain and Eng land wUl not thus have been taught to draw together against us ? And is it to be supposed that we have not prepared in America a terrible leaven of hatred and vengeance against France ? Weigh these expressions in the despatch addressed 76 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. by Earl RusseU to Earl Cowley on the 27th of September, 1861 :— "I received from Mr. Adams on the 25th instant an expla nation of the proposals the United States wish to make to Great Britain and France in the affairs of Mexico. He said that the United States Government were considerably alarmed at the statements made in the newspapers regarding an inter vention in Mexico, which was supposed to be in the contem plation of Great Britain, France, and Spain. The United States Government were aware that Great Britain, France, and Spain, as weU as the United States, had many grievances to complain of on the part of the Government of Mexico, .But a direct intervention with a view to organise a new government in Mexico, and especiaUy the active participation of Spain in such an enterprise, would excite strong feeUngs in the United States. It would be considered as that kind- of dfrect interference in the internal affairs of America to which the United States have always been opposed. In fact, there was a sort of understanding that so long as European powers did not interfere in America, the United States might abstain from European alliances; but if a combination of powers were to organise a government in Mexico, the United States would feel themselves compeUed to choose their allies in Europe, and take their part in the wars and treaties of Europe." — (Page 59.) The Monroe doctrine is here enunciated in terms equaUy concise and decisive. It is the new world saying to the old world: "Take care! If you pretend to interfere with our affafrs, we shaU interfere with yours ! " To what complications may not aU this give birth ? And what a weU-spring of embarrassment for the future! Spain, which was unquestionably detested by the Mexicans, by dis playing forbearance towards them, is preparing the way for a reconciUation of which we, by adopting an exactly opposite Une of conduct, are in danger pf having sooner or later to pay the costs. Even supposing that we render a service to the Mexicans by giving them masters at the point of the sword, is a present of this kind one of those which a nation is Ukely to forgive ? This is perfectly understood in England by aU who are jealous of France ; ahd this is the reason why, at heart, people THE IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT AND ENGLAND IN MEXICO. 77 here are so weU pleased to see her engaged, single-handed, in that distant enterprise. Let us hope,- — -since nothing yet appears to be finaUy deter mined, — that it is not the intention of the French Govern ment to demand anything more from Mexico than the just redress of our grievances. And, if reparation be obtained, why should the Government of Juarez be overthrown ? Does not this Government repre sent the ideas of Uberty and progress ? Has it not displayed on its banners those principles of '89, beneath the invocation of which imperial power in France has placed itself? Was it not from our revolution of 1789 that it borrowed the secu larisation of the property of the Church ? It is true, that for a long time past, murder and rapine have been in full career throughout Mexico ; that foreigners residing in that country have not enjoyed sufficient security ; that those .among them to whom the Mexican Government owes money, have, up to the present time, not been paid, or have been paid only in part ; that on more than one occa sion the official character of foreign representatives has not been respected : in a word, that great anarchy prevails in Mexieo. But it is only fair to observe that Mexico has stiU to pass through the always critical hours of infancy ; and, moreover, that the acts of brigandage about which so much has been said, have been actuaUy committed by the faction opposed to Juarez' Government ; that the robberies, wholesale spoUations, and assassinations, which have very reasonably formed the subject of so many complaints, are not in any way imputable to the existing Government ; that the anarchy which desolates Mexico is, in fact, the work of the faction which, under the name of the Church party, waves the flag of superstition and fanaticism. Of this I will give you, in my next letter, official and diplomatic proofs. 78 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. LETTER LXXV. the same subject. June Ilth, 1862. You have placed under the eyes of your readers the report of the Conference held at Orizaba on the 9th AprU, 1862. If ever a diplomatic document could dispense with commen taries, it is that one. I only allude to it, therefore, to draw your attention to the complete confirmation it affords to my last letter. But there is one point which it is of the utmost consequence to bring before the notice of the public in France. Some few days ago the Times declared that England looked on with perfect equanimity while the various phases of our intervention in Mexico tmroUed themselves before her eyes. Yesterday the leading journal, as it is caUed here, went much farther. Not only does it now cheerfuUy give its con sent to the French expedition, but it encourages, it presses, it urges us on. It expresses a wish that it could afready salute our flag floating victoriously over the capital of Montezuma. So keen is its desire to see us instaUed beyond the seas, so great its apprehension lest some doubt as to the justice of our cause should cross our minds, that in the teeth of the hundred times repeated affirmations of England, and although it has before its eyes Lord RusseU's despatches and the report of the conference of Orizaba, the Times pretends that the over throw of Juarez' Government and a poUtical intervention of a very marked and decisive character must have been from the beginning contemplated by the three Governments. In other words, the Times is striving, to the best of its abiUty, to lessen the weight of the scruples which might impede or retard our action, so impatient is it to congratulate us on our success"! Why not, indeed ! The English dread the aggrandise ment of France ! No such thing. That was aU very weU in the time of Napoleon I., or of Louis PhUippe ; but now, to-day, in the year of grace 1862 ? No, no. Let France extend herself at THE IMPERIAL; GOVERNMENT AND ENGLAND IN MEXICO. 79 her ease. Let her cross the seas. Let her decide, without appeal, the fortunes of empires. Let her hold in the hoUow of her powerful hand the existence of the nations of the new world. AU this is quite palatable to the English, and they can only be grateful to us for the trouble we give ourselves to guide the destinies of the earth. So speaks the Times, or at least to that effect. It is true that it has contrived to commit some singular inadvertencies. It says, for instance, in its issue of 21st May : "In Mexico France can do much good, with Uttle chance of doing any harm to any one whomsoever, except to herself." Except to herself! Such words are worth thefr weight in gold. I read, besides, in another number, that of the 27th May, with reference to the revelations made in the report of the Orizaba conference, the foUowing very characteristic passage : — "We now know the origin of the whole affair. The monarchy, with the Austrian archduke for king, was the idea of certain Mexican refugees, members of the reactionary or Church party in Mexico, and partisans of Marquez and other ruffians, whose misdeeds have been among the principal causes of our intervention. If Ferdinand-Maximilian goes to Mexico, he wiU find his most active friends among the men who have shot to death, tortured, and robbed, until Europe has at last lost patience." Is it perchance in order that France, under the guidance of General Almonte, may figure in the eyes of Europe in such good company that the Times is so eager to see us masters of .Mexico ? In the same article appears the foUowing extract from one of Lord Lyons' despatches : — " I beUeve that the aUied expedition against Mexico is extremely unpalatable to the American people, and that the establishment of monarchy in that country would be regarded by them as exfremely offensive." — (Part IL, page 51.), Is it not strange that the ardent desire felt by the 'Times to assist by its counsels the diffusion of our influence, should blind it to the danger of bringing us, sooner or later, into coUision with the United States ? Does not our very kind adviser, on this occasion, bear a strong resemblance to MephistophUes ? There is a despatch which the Times quotes carelessly, 80 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. innocently, as if it did not understand the full meaning of the words. It is the one in which Lord RusseU expresses his apprehension "that the French general, anxious for the cause of monarchy and of CathoUc unity, may lend the aid of the French arms to the reactionary party in Mexico, and thus give fresh life to the civU war, which appears at present almost to have died away." — (Part II. , page 136.) Is it, then, to afford the world the spectacle of France going to rekindle civU war in Mexico that the Times cries to us, "Be of good cheer ! Forwards ! " Let us see, now, what was the history of the intervention of the three powers, and of the causes which brought it about. But, before going further, I must warn you that you wiU find a vexatious contradiction between the conduct of Sfr C. Lennox Wyke towards the Mexican Government in 1861, and the foUowing declaration made by him at the Conference of Orizaba in 1862. "Sir Charles Wyke thinks that amongst the persons who direct the affafrs of the Govemment of the Mexican republic, there are distinguished members of the true moderate party, and that the Une of conduct hitherto pursued by the aUied commissioners was the best fitted to consolidate a government which was accepted by everyone." — (Part IL, page 126.) To bring Sir Charles Wyke to make in favour of the Govemment of Juarez such a peremptory and solemn declara tion, has needed the irresistible force of evidence and actual knowledge — acquired during a long residence — of the faue state of affairs in Mexico. For Sir Charles Wyke's first impressions were far from being those which are revealed in the lines I have just quoted. It is clear that the diplomatist has been led by experience to completely modify his first views, and that a more attentive study of the situation has enUghtened him as to the dangers of a revolution for the benefit of Marquez and others. This being premised, let us see what the " Blue Book" has to teU us. The first despatch is dated the 30th March, 1861. It bears the signature of Lord John RusseU, and contains the instructions which, as Secretary of State for Foreign Affafrs, he gives to Sir Charles Wyke, appointed to proceed to Mexico as the representative of England. The foUowing passages THE IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT AND ENGLAND IN MEXICO. 81 wUl give you an idea of the spirit in which these instructions were issued : — " The poUcy of the British Govemment with regard to Mexico is a poUcy of non-intervention, and the British Govern ment desire to see Mexico free and independent, and in a position to regulate the civU adminisfration of the country, to maintain internal peace, and to discharge its international duties, without the active intervention of any foreign Power whatever. ... I would moreover particularly caution you against taking any part in the political questions which may arise between contending parties in the State. A British Minister can never safely interfere in such matters. . . . Your earliest attention after your arrival in Mexico must be given to the question of British claims. ... If you should meet with any resistance, you wiU apprise the Mexican Government that you are authorised, and enjoined, at once to caU upon Her Majesty's naval forces to support and, if necessary, to enforce your demand for reparation As regards the time at which either class of the claims shaU be paid, Her Majesty's Govemment are aware that some degree of indulgence may be necessary. The troubles, which have, for many years past, disfracted the Republic, have, as a natural result, im poverished the country, and made it difficult for the Constitu tional Govemment to raise, at once, funds sufficient to provide for the immediate wants of the civU administration, and for the liabilities of the country towards foreign creditors and claimants. But you must be careful not to allow any tempo rary forbearance, which you may show in pressing for the Hqiddation of British claims, to be construed into indifference. .... You are so weU acquainted with the peculiarities of the Spanish character, that it is needless for me to dUate on the best means of deaUng with the people with whom you may be brought into contact. They are to be influenced by moderate language and considerate demeanour, but they resist and defy attempts to intimidate or coerce With the Representa tives of Foreign States accredited to the RepubUc you wiU endeavour to Uve in harmony. You wiU always bear in mind that neither in Mexico, nor in any part of the world, do Her Majesty's Government seek any exclusive political influence, nor any commercial advantages which they are not ready to share with aU the nations of the earth." (Page 1 — 4.) VOL. n. o 82 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. What wise and noble language ! Lord John RusseU re commends firmness, but he will have it ennobled by modera tion. A generous creditor, he insists upon the necessity of making aUowance for the embarrassments of the debtor. Speaking in the name of the strongest, he seems to fear a too hasty recourse to forcible proceedings. He thrusts aside the idea of an intervention that would entirely change the nature of the demands which he has a right to make, would risk to widen the wounds which it is- sought to close up, and woiUd compromise England in quarrels that do not concern her. About a fortnight after the despatch of these instructions to Sir Charles Wyke, and at the moment when he was arriving in Mexico in his quality of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Mr. Mathew, whom he had come to succeed, addressed a despatch to Lord John RusseU, in which the state of things in Mexico was described as foUows : — " There has been but little change in the affairs of Mexico for the last two months. Senor Prieto was succeeded in the Ministry of Finance by Senor Mata The death of Senor Lerdo de Tehada, the ablest, if not the only, financier in the Republic, has been severely felt at the present crisis Senor Fuente, a lawyer of some note, left Mexico by the last packet, on a mission to Paris, and probably to Spain; his departure having been long delayed by the difficulty of pro curing even the smaU sum of money necessary for his journey and support. To this complete deficiency of resouices must be attributed the continued existence and increase, in various parts of the country, of gueriUa bodies under the Spaniards Cobos and Vicario, and under the infamous Marquez, who pursues stiU his course of murder and rapine. Two petty attempts to create disturbances in this capital were discovered and put down in time. In other respects, public tranquiUity has not been disturbed, and, however faulty and weak the present Government may be, they who witnessed the murders, the acts of atrocity and plunder, almost of daily occurrence, under the Government of General Miramon, and his coun sellors Senor Diaz and General Marquez, cannot but appreciate the existence of law and justice. Foreigners especially, who suffered so heavily under that arbitrary rule, and by the hatred and intolerance towards them which is a dogma of the Church THE IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT AND ENGLAND IN MEXICO. 83 party in Mexico, cannot but make a broad distinction between the past and the present. President Juarez, though deficient in the energy necessary for the present crisis, is an upright and weU-intentioned man, excellent in all the private relations of life ; but the mere fact of his being an Indian exposes him to the hostUity and sneers of the dregs of Spanish society, and of those of mixed blood, who ludicrously arrogate to them selves the higher social position in Mexico. I have afready made known to your Lordship my opinion of the objectionable nature of the Federal Constitution now in force ; and I have not concealed my fear for the future peace of Mexico from the utter want of patriotism among the higher classes, and from the demoralization and restlessness produced among aU by the prolonged state of civil warfare. A desire for change is afready stated to exist in certain quarters, and the .idea of the selection of a MiUtary Dictator has been put forward ; but it is scarcely needful to observe that such a step would be no paUiation of the present wants, and no preventive of the future dangers of the country. General St. Anna was the ablest man of that class Mexico has produced, and the tempo rary good effect of his energetic character is unquestionable ; but that due appreciation of equal justice, of social rights, and of peaceful prosperity, by which alone nationality can be maintained, cannot be created by the strong hand of arbitrary power. The hope of Mexico rests upon the maintenance of peace. A wise basis of civil and of religious liberty has been laid down, and peace only is needed for the development of constitutional principles, and for the gradual enlightenment of the people. But seeing as I do so many native and foreign elements at work to disturb the existing state of things, I cannot but entertain a conviction that unless the present Government, or principles of Government, are in some way avowedly upheld by England, or the United States — by a protecting aUiance, or by the declaration that no revolutionary movements woidd be permitted in any of the seaports on either ocean — further deplorable convulsions wiU afflict this unfortunate country, to the heavy injury of the British interests and commerce, and to the disgrace of humanity." It is now of consequence to know in what consisted the grievances which England aUeged against the Mexican- Government. G 2 84 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. LETTER LXXVI. the same subject. Jane 12th, 1862. When, some three or four years ago, the party, known by the name of the Church party, had the upper hand in Mexico, it wrote on its flag, and adopted as its war-cry : " Death to Foreigners ! " And facts were not long in proving that this was no idle threat. An English Consul and a French Consul were odiously assassinated; fifty-three persons were seized and massacred; and aU sorts of horrors were committed. CompeUed to quit the capital, Mr. Mathew, the British Charge d' Affaires, had left in a room of the legation, which he believed to be sufficiently protected by the impression of his official seal on the door, a sum of 660,000 doUars belonging to English citizens : the seal was insolently broken, the door forced open, and the money carried off. At that period the Constitutional Government, which was then and is stUl represented by Juarez, was estabUshed at Vera Cruz. Juarez did not hesitate to conclude a convention with Captain Dunlop, by which he engaged, as soon as he should come into fuU possession of power, to pay whatever might be due to EngUshmen residing in Mexico, and to apply to this payment the revenue of the customs of Vera Cruz and Tampico. The Constitutional Party triumphed, but the vanquished party was not so completely crushed as to be unable to disturb . and ravage the country, and fiU it with bloodshed. In the midst of this frightful disorder, it happened that a considerable sum of money, a portion of which was the property of EngUsh citizens, in its passage to the coast under the protection of an escort, was seized by General DegoUado, an officer in the service of the constituted authorities. Representations were thereupon addressed to him by Mr. Glennie, consul at Mexico, and part of the money carried off was restored ; but a more ample reparation was naturaUy expected and demanded. That is what the English Government had to say, to which the Govemment of Juarez replied to the foUowing effect: — THE IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT AND ENGLAND IN MEXICO. 85 "It is too frue that abominable murders have been com mitted — but by whom? Was it by us, the Liberal party? No ; the real criminals are our enemies. When, on the Ilth of April, 1859, Dr. Duval, an EngUsh physician, was arrested and shot at Tacubaya, in violation of aU laws human and divine, which was the party that had taken possession of Tacubaya, and was in force there ? The Church party. And by whom was the barbarous order given ? By the ferocious hero of that party. General Marquez. It was this same Marquez, who being refused by Mr. Newal a sum of money which had been placed in the hands of that gentleman in trust, exclaimed, in an outburst of passion : ' Take this man, put him in capilla (the place assigned to criminals for the few hours previous to their execution), and without further orders shoot him to-morrow morning before six o'clock.' (Part I., page 24.) This would have been done, had not Mr. Newal's friends succeeded in disarming Marquez' s cruelty by gratifying his rapacity. Cast a glance on the gloomy journal of the acts of violence to which Messrs. Pitman, Davis, Whitehead, Joots, George SeUy, and so many others, have been subjected, and everywhere and on every occasion those iU-omened names will meet your eye, — Miramon, Marquez, Zuloaga ! By what fataUty are we called upon to render an account to the civiUzed world for the murders and rapines perpetrated by our declared adver- ¦saries ? The robbery committed at the British Legation was thefr work. That we, into whose hands the Government has now passed, should be requfred to restore what they stole; may be just ; but at least let us be spared the stigma which our enemies alone have merited. What can be legitiraately im puted to us, and for which we acknowledge ourselves to be responsible, is the seizure of money effected by DegoUado,. We are, therefore, ready to make any sacrifice to expiate this wrong done by one of our party, and to make atonement for it. Was not a pledge of our good wiU given in our conduct towards Doctor Duval's widow, to whom we did not hesitate to offer as an indemnity the sum of 25,000 doUars, to be recovered from the national property? We are aware that it is the duty of those in whom the government is vested, to indemnify foreigners for the evils of which a long anarchy is the source, and which they are imable to suppress. But let them give us a Uttle breathing time, and not add, by inexorable and too '86 • LETTERS ON ENGLAND. importunate demands, to the embarrassments of a situation afready so difficult. We have to defend liberfy against a party in whose eyes the most blood-stained anarchy is only a road to the establishment of tyrannical power. We have to make head against a religious fanaticism armed with poniards. We have to preserve order with finances in disorder; to reorganize a disorderly administration; to close the gaping wound which a disastrous, protracted civil war has opened in the sides of Mexico. Let them not render impossible, by seizing us by the throat, a task in whieh so many interests are involved which ought to be dear to the friends _ of civiUzation and humanity." (Summarised from various despatches in the "Correspondence respecting the Affafrs of Mexico.") Such was the state of the qwestion when Sir C. Lennox Wyke was sent to Mexico in the capacity of Minister Plenipo tentiary. From that moment everything was changed in the relations of the two countries. In the same proportion that Mr. Mathew had proved himself friendly and forbearing, did Sir C. Lennox Wyke prove himself hard to deal with. Arriving at Mexico on the 9th of May, 1861, he was not a fortnight in the country before his hostiUty to the Government of Juarez became manifest. Speaking of a conversation which he had just had with the Mexican minister, Don Guzman, he writes to Lord John RusseU : — " As soon after the departure of the mail as possible I shaU put his sincerity to the test." Then he reproaches the Government with its " blind hatred towards the Church party." The man whom Mr. Mathew caUed "the infamous Marquez" is for Sir C. Lennox Wyke only " the notorious Marquez;" and a little more he would admfre the genius of that man and his military manoeuvres, which he terms " masterly." What appears chiefly to animate him against the Government of Juarez, is the impression made upon him, that it is ultra-Uberal, and he cannot forgive Congress for passing its time " in disputing about theories of government on ultra-Uberal principles." What could be expected from a person thus prejudiced ? His correspondence with the Mexican minister is lying open before me : nothing could be imagined more imperious and harsh ; not a word in it beneath which a menace does not THE IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT AND ENGLAND IN MEXICO. 87 growl. Sir C. Lennox Wyke knew perfectly weU that the finances of Mexico were in a state of absolute exhaustion. So weU aware was he of this, that in informing Lord John RusseU that Congress had promised the sum of 10,000 doUars for the head of Marquez, he remarks, sneeringly : — " there is no probabihty of the money being caUed for, whieh is so far fortunate for the credit of Congress, as that sum is not at present to be found in the National Treasury." And it is to a Government whose extreme penury he himself thus describes, that from his first arrival he addresses peremptory summonses, the style of which would have done no discredit to Shylock, and which reminds one of the famous words : " The pound of flesh which I demand of him is dearly bought : 'tis mine, and I wiUhave it."' He must have the 660,000 dollars which the rebels carried off from the house of the British Legation. In vain Senor Guzman repUes that the guUty persons are in the hands of justice ; that their private properties wiU be appropriated to the repayment of the moneys of which they have unduly possessed themselves, and that, in the event of these propei^ties proving inadequate, the Treasury will make good the deficiency : Sir C. Lennox Wyke was not a man to be so easUy satisfied. What matters it to him by whom the robbery was committed ? It is enough that it was committed. The wolf said to the lamb : " If it is not thyself, it is thy brother." In this case the Mexican Government is told ; "If it is not thyself, it is thine enemy." And, in fact, in his des patch of the 24th of June, 1861, Sir Charles Wyke actuaUy wrote to Lord John RusseU in reference to this affair : " I told him (Senor Guzman) I had . . merely to insist on the repay ment of the money stolen, without being in any way concerned in the means by which it was to be procured." (Page 13.) The correspondence of the EngUsh Plenipotentiary with the Mexican Minister is not less remarkable with respect to the robbery of the specie under escort, imputed to General DegoUado. In a letter on this subject addressed to Sir Charles Wyke by Senor Guzman, after admitting as a thing notorious to aU the world, and weU known to Sfr Charles, that the Treasury was in a state of penury, the Mexican Minister expresses himself as foUows : — " The Government recognises the just rights of the creditors and are resolved upon making every possible sacrifice in order 88 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. to satisfy them. Government can dispose of convents and other valuable property. These, and even the National Palace, are at the creditors' disposal ; they may take their choice, and whatever they select shaU at once be consigned to them at an equitable and conventional price. These same creditors, moreover, can count upon their credits being ad mitted as cash in any transactions, whether on account df duties or otherwise, which they may have with Government." (Page 20.) What more could an insolvent debtor do? It. was Antonio baring his breast to have a potmd of flesh cut out. Not that I pretend to give this as a perfectly exact com parison, or to question in the slightest degree Sir Charles Wyke's good intentions. I am quite prepared to admit that, in beUeving it to be his duty to be so importunate and in flexible, he did so because it concerned a matter in which he was not in any way personally interested. Representing in terests which were not his own, but those of his feUow- countrymen, he could' not be as forbearing in what was thefr affair as he doubtless would have been, had it been his own. AU this I readily believe ; but it is not the less true that his conduct towards the Mexican Government displays an excessive rigour which exercised no small effect upon the complications that we are witnessing at the present moment. Had he been better inspired with the spirit of the wise instructions, in the course of which Lord John Russell reminded him that " some degree of indulgence may be necessary," it is probable that things would have taken another turn. Instead of that, his correspondence exhibits him to us as looking in preference to the dark side, ever prone to impute to bad faith the manifest results of impotence, ever speaking of having recourse to coercive measures, exciting Lord John Russell by gloomy reports, and in the end breathing into him his own angry feelings. A decree issued on the 1 7th of July, 1861, proclaiming the suspension for two years of the payment of what was due to the English bondholders, and in general to^ all who were interested in the ; diplomatic Conventions, was the drop of water which made the cup overflow. Sfr Charles Wyke was informed of the existence of this decree through the public press, and immediately wrote to Senor Manuel de THE IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT AND ENGLAND IN MEXICO. 89 Zamacona, who was then at the head of the Government : — " It would appear that Congress has thought fit to make a free gift of other people's property to the Government of the RepubUc. . . . UntU I hear from you to the contrary, I am bound to consider this announcement in the light of a false hood ; for I cannot bring myself to beUeve that a Government which respects itself could sanction a gross violation of its •most sacred obligations to other nations." (p. 37.) However harsh this language may appear, there would have been nothing excessive in it, had the decree of suspension been a free and voluntary act on the part of the Congress ; had not the Congress, in issuing it, acted in obedience to the most infiexible of laws, necessity ; and had it been possible to raise the sUghtest doubt on that point. But how did matters stand? The Govemment had made up to that time unpre cedented efforts to satisfy their foreign creditors, not even shrinking from the deplorable and ruinous expedient of forced contributions. In order to pay the foreign debt, they had condemned themselves to an absolute impossibiUty of either attempting the most indispensable reforms, or of employ ing the forces that might have put an end to a devouring anarchy. Whenever a wrong was announced, thunderbolts were hurled against the vices of an administration which must absolutely be remodeUed, and which the Government failed to supervise. Whenever the bandits of the Church party committed an act of robbery or murder — and a Mr. Beale happened to be assassinated whUst defending his house against an attack — the Government was invariably caUed upon to account for its powerlessness. When would the lives, when would the property of foreigners residing in Mexico be guaranteed ? And yet it was very evident that if the Govern ment was obUged to employ for the payment of the foreign debt, resources which were notoriously insufficient, there would be no means left for the purpose of maintaining order. In realify, the government of Juarez was disarmed, whUst summoned to combat the enemy. Thus compelled to choose between two evUs, Congress came to the conclusion that, in the interest of the creditors themselves, the most important step to take was to employ every disposable resource for the re-estab lishment of order, so profoundly shaken, and for the extinction of civU warfare. By the decree of the 1 7th JiUy, 1 8 6 1 , the debt 90 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. was in no way denied. On the contrary, it was acknowledged in formal terms, and the firm resolution was announced of dis charging it. Only, the Government did what is done by every trader at the height of a commercial crisis — time was asked for. Such was the purport of the considerations submitted by Senor Manuel de Zamacona to Sir Charles Wyke in a letter, the earnest, polished, and moderate tone of which contrasted strangely with that of the English Plenipotentiary. It is curious to note the manner in which Sir Charles Wyke replies to the argument derived from necessity : — ¦" A starving man may justify, in his own eyes, the fact of his steaUng a loaf on the ground that imperious necessity impelled him thereto ; but such an argument cannot, in a moral point of view, justify his violation of the law, which remains aa positive, apart from aU sentimentaUty, as if the crime had not had an excuse." The reply made by the Mexican Minister to this " iUustra tion," which was actually an insult, deserves to be noticed : — " His Excellency compares the Government at this moment to a person who, impelled by hunger, assaults and robs a pro vision merchant. Now, two ruling principles are implied in such an act, one of aggression, the other of robbery, neither of which can even be assumed in respect to the conduct of Government towards its creditors. Of not a sixpence have these same creditors been deprived ; and if one had to employ a simile to qualify the conduct of Government, it would be rather that of a father overwhelmed with debts, who, with only a small sum at his disposal, scarcely sufficient to main tain his children, employed it in the purchase of bread instead of in the payment of his bills. Were her Britannic Majesty's representative a member of the famUy, would he be eager to qualify the father's conduct by the name of spoUation ? In every-day Ufe one is accustomed to see people who suspend payment owing to pecuniary embarrassments, yet nobody thinks of calUng them thieves.'' On the conclusion of this correspondence, too long to be given here in fuU, aU official relations were broken off between the British Envoy and the Mexican Government. Yet one word more. Judging from the report of the Con ference of Orizaba, it appears that Admiral Jurien reproaches the Mexican Government with " smothering by systematic op- INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION : DISTRIBUTION OF PRIZES. 91 pression the free expression of the desires of the inteUigent and moderate part of the nation." It is possible that Admfral Jurien may have possessed information on this subject which has not reached us ; but certainly the complaints made in Sfr Charles Wyke's despatches against the Government of Juarez are, on the contrary, that it had not the vigour necessary for' the suppression of anarchy, and that it was ultra-liberal. It must be admitted that these accusations are singularly at variance with each other. As for the inteUigent and moderate part of the nation, it is classed as foUows, according to the Times (May 27, 1862), which derives its estimate from the documents pubUshed by the British Cabinet : — " Of seven millions of men in Mexico, there are two milUons who are firmly attached to RepubUcan institutions : the rest are principaUy composed of Indians, too ignorant for any attention to be paid to their opinion." LETTER LXXVIL THE INTEENATIONAL EXHIBITION: DISTEIBUTION OE PEIZES. July 12th, 1862. The distribution of prizes took place yesterday in the Exhi bition Palace. In using the word " distribution," I must explain myself. As the medals are not yet struck, they could not be deUvered ; aU that was done, therefore, was the desig nating the most worthy. Everywhere, but more particularly in London, the state of the atmosphere occupies a large place in the hopes and fears which enter into the expectation of a grand public ceremonial. Shall we have any sun ? ShaU we have any rain ? It was necessary to provide for either accident, and the anxioiis prevision of the Commissioners had prepared a programme beforehand to meet either contingency. Thank Heaven ! there was no occasion to conform to the programme against rain. I have been told, in this classic land of constitutional monarchy, that the Queen has never ha4 to appear in pubUc without the 92 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. weather being fine. But as the Queen was on this occasion to be absent, you may imagine what apprehension was felt. However, the sun's programme carried the day, though the sky was clouded in the morning, but it proved nothing more than a false alarm. However, there was nothing of that excitement which pre vailed on the opening day. Farewell to the roads alive with people ! FareweU to that interminable line of vehicles of every kind — I had almost said of every condition — which on the 1st of May encumbered the neighbourhood of the Exhibition from eight in the morning ! FareweU to the long lines formed by the excluded on each side of the elect ! I entered the Exhi bition very late, about one o'clock, just as the ceremony was about to commence, and I was struck by the air of perfect tran quiUity which reigned around the edifice. In Hyde Park, on the side of the entrance which looks into Exhibition Road, the sight-seers were comparatively very thinly scattered. Towards the north entrance of the Horti cultural Gardens, on the road by which personages of note were expected to come, there were two or three groups which seemed to me not much more dense than those the attention of which our old friends " Punch and Judy " have had, from time immemorial, the privUege of captivating. Even at the doors of the Palace no crowding, nothing to obstruct the passage. For my own part, I entered without being at all elbowed, and without having to elbow any one whomsoever. That the number of visitors on that day amounted, as has been asserted, to sixty or seventy thousand, I very much doubt; and if it be true, it is a mystery which I do 'not undertake to solve. My impression is, that the crowd of visitors was not much more considerable than on the 1st of May, and the number of 44,000 persons counted could not have been much below the exact total. Be that as it may, the assemblage within presented a spec tacle which could not certainly have been expected from the .'indifference displayed outside. As happens on such occasions, the ladies were in great force, and as England is one of the countries of the world in which the beauty of the women best harmonises with the briUiancy of their costume, no one, I fancy, would have been disposed to complain of the part which, this time, curiosity impeUed the daughters of Eve to play. INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION : DISTRIBUIION OF PRIZES. 93 The gallantry of the Commissioners had enabled them, throughout the length of the nave, to enjoy the pleasure of seeing aU and being themselves weU seen, while seated on long rows of chairs, behind which the stronger sex were crowded together, mounted on benches, or standing on tip-toe. The somewhat cfrcuitous route by which the personages in costume were to proceed had been fenced in beforehand by a kind of barricades. Was that necessary ? We must suppose so. During our first Revolution, which was such a terrible affair, in order to prevent the people at public ceremonies from passing beyond the assigned limits, a tricolour ribbon was stretched in front, and this frail barrier appears to have been always respected. I had taken up my post in the gaUeries, where the crowd was great, and thence watched the defiling past of the procession, that is to say, the fete — for, so far as the eyes were concerned, the fete was the procession. But no, I am wrong. The true fete was the elegant and joyous crowd which overflowed the interior of the buUding. The spectacle was the spectators. As for the procession, I frankly acknowledge that that sort . of thing has never been to my taste. It 'seems to me not a Uttle ridiculous for grave personages, statesmen, ministers, thinkers with gray hair, to go at a given moment and pom pously stalk around a building, bedecked in all sorts of picturesque imiforms, some a great deal too picturesque, saying as it were to the Cockneys of fashion and society: ' Do we not look weU in this costume ? " AU the more so, as to some among them one would be tempted to reply, but for the rules of good breeding : " Not at aU, I assure you." The processions at the Opera are preferable, and very much so, because there it is essential that the cowl should make the monk. It would be something if these gentlemen wore masks ! But a masquerade without masks ! I am aware that, as a general rule, nations are not yet ready to emerge from chUdhood ; they must have toys — some thing to amuse them — something that speaks to the eyes. Very good ! And yet if there be a nation entitled to believe that it has attained its majority, it is England, serious England. Why, then, condemn men of eminent merit to parade themselves as a raree-show? I noticed more than one sarcastic smUe on gentle Ups. 94 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. On this occasion, however, the procession had at least an object in view, which would have been looked for in vain on the opening day. It was to proceed in succession to the different stations at which it was arranged that the prizes should be assigned, and which claimed attention by pretty trophies I of garlands and flags, without reckoning the sur rounding staUs of precious objects, characteristic of the various nationalities. In this display of resources, Austria was dis tinguished by richness, and France by good taste, which is the distinction of the mind. Previous to entering the Palace, the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of Argyll, the Duke of Newcastle, Sir CornewaU Lewis, Sir Charles Wood, the Prince de Carignan, the Pasha of Egypt, Lord Palmerston, Mr. DisraeU, Mr. Gladstone, Earl RusseU, in short, the entfre official train, in aU that constituted its splendour, traversed the Horticultural Gardens between two Unes of sympathetic or charming spectators, to the further end where the dais was erected, beneath which was to be played out the most important act of the drama. You wiU find in aU the English papers, whence you can copy it if you feel so inclined, the brief discourse pronounced by Lord Granville, and the equaUy brief reply read by the Duke of Cambridge. There was nothing very remarkable in either of these speeches ; common-place remarks couched in suitable lan guage, and relative to the business of the day. But 'between them came a report read by Lord Taunton, as President of the Council of Jurors, which deserves to be noticed. It states that there were in aU 65 Juries, grouped in such a manner as to form 36 categories, corresponding to the 36 industrial classes, between whom are divided the objects exhibited ; that these objects have been submitted to the examination of 615 jurors, of whom 328 were English men ; that their labours have occupied two months ; and that thefr task, though a difficult one, has been conscientiously accomplished : the number of exhibitors whose comparative merits had to be weighed being not less than 25,000. From this report it also appears that the number of medals voted by the jury is 7,000, and that of "honourable mentions" about 5,300. This is more than in 1851, but less than in 1855. HOW THE AMERICAN WAR IS VIEWED IN ENGLAND. 95 In the official list of medals awarded there figure many names, so far as France is concerned, of which I wiU not cite one, as I cannot cite all. Suffice it to say, that our great and beloved country occupies here, as everywhere, a position which attracts and fascinates public attention. In short, the ceremony of yesterday was very interesting, were it only in reference to the idea which it aimed at expressing, and its place is marked beforehand in the history of peaceful triumphs. LETTER LXXVIIL ¦HOW THE AMEEICAN WAE IS VIEWED IN ENGLAND. July 2Ut, 1862. Anothee great battle was fought on Friday last on a field not less in view than the plains before Richmond — I mean the EngUsh House of Commons. Armed with the sword of the word, the Saxons of the North and those of the South came into coUision ; but this time the men of the South were utterly routed. How many were killed ? How many wounded ? Alas ! the inquiry is more serious than it appears. From a word rashly uttered to-day, death may proceed to morrow, and in the vocabulary of nations — woe to him who knows it not ! — there are phrases loaded with grapeshot. " The Northerners," exclaimed Mr. Gregory the day before yesterday, " have decidedly been stung by a taran tula." But if he himself, and Mr. Lindsay, and Lord A. Vane Tempest, and Mr. S. Fitzgerald, had not been stung by a tarantula, would they have brought on a discussion of which the least fault was its inopportuneness, and from which such angry feeUngs may spring ? Would they have pleaded the cause of peace in language that sounds like the roll of the drum ? Would they have insisted on the necessity of a mediation in terms which must render aU idea of mediation hateful to one of the two parties ? Would they have flung in the face of the North, by way of insult, menace, and defiance, the words : " Recognition of the independence of the South 96 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. by Europe " ? There is not a nerve that wUl not quiver at New York on the day when the news shall arrive on the wings of the telegraph : "In the country of Wilberforce, iu the ^EngUsh House of Commons, voices were heard and applauded which proclaimed as supremely just a cause dishonoured by slavery." Mr. Lindsay's reasoning is to this effect. It is worth while to foUow it, for it faithfuUy sums up what people have been going about saying for some months past, in most of the papers, at the clubs, in society, everywhere. And it is also worthy of remark, because it shows how apprehensive are the partisans of the South lest they should be thought to advocate slavery. According to Mr. Lindsay, then, there are in America two widely distinct interests : that of the North, a manufacturing country, and that of the South, an agricultural country. The North needs, or thinks that it needs, prohibitive tariffs for the protection of its manufactures, while the South requires free trade for the disposal of its produce. In 1860, the value of the exports of the United States amounted to 3 5 0 miUions of dollars, of which the Southern exports in cotton, tobacco, and other articles, came to 250 miUions, while Northern exports did not exceed 100 mUlions. Now, as a" coimtry pays its exports with its imports, it foUows that, either directly or indirectly, the South, which exports the larger share, cannot faU to be more heavily burdened than the North in the distribution of the taxes imposed by the Federal Government. Moreover, the avowed object of a portion of these taxes being to encourage the ironmasters of Pennsylvania and the manu facturers of New England, what was the position of the South previous to its secession ? On one hand it had to pay more than its fair contingent in the matter of imports, and on the other hand it was compeUed to purchase at a high price from the North, what it could have purchased at a low price from Europe. Its interests, therefore, were doubly prejudiced. And where coiUd it apply for redress ? By the terms of the Constitution of the United States, each of the thirty-four States of which the Union was composed, sent up two members to the Senate, whUe the lower House was recruited after a system that took the population as the basis of repre sentation. Thence ensued the inevitable consequence that, as HOW THE AMERICAN WAR IS VIEWED IN ENGLAND. 97 the population of the North was being incessantly augmented by the torrent of European emigration, the poUtical influence of the South became daUy diminished ; so that its interests were attacked in the al^sence of adequate means of defence. Such was the frue cause of the secession. It was brought about, Uke a fatality, by commercial circumstances — nothing more. There was not, and could not be, any question about slavery. Has not Mr. Lincoln's government said as much in terms sufficiently clear? Has not the programme of the Washington Cabinet, from the very first, been headed with these words, never to be effaced from the page of history : "The object of the war is, not the aboUtion of slavery, but the restoration of the Union?" What do the aboUtionists, then, mean by their humanitarian lamentations and philan thropic aspfrations ? The emancipation of the negroes has nothing to do with the secession. The North contends for empfre, the South for independence ; and in consequence of this contention, becoming every day more terrible, the old world is being ruined, while the new world crawls through blood. What do we still await before we intervene ? Such is the purport of the speech delivered by Mr. Lindsay; and this speech, I repeat, is only the echo of the arguments and complaints with which aU England is ringing. But is this manner of looking at the question in conformity with fruth ? Is it in conformity with justice ? The Union was a confract, a solemn and sacred contract. Since when has it been lawful, on the part of one of two contracting parties to break off the contract abruptly, violently, as soon as there is, or appears to be, a motive for doing so ? Did not this compact of the Union, which, in so few years, made the people of the United States one of the most powerful and flourishing nations of the earth, create a re ciprocity of obligations between the North and the South ? Was the South indebted to the closeness of its relations with the North for no advantage of a natm-e to counter balance the effects of that tariff system which, I suspect, would be far less blamable in Mr. Lindsay's eyes, if he really had no object in view but the interests of the South ? How strange to hear men dweU sympatheticaUy on the causes which threatened to diminish the influence of the South prior to the separation, when we think of so many elections in whieh VOL. II. n 98 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. that influence proved preponderant, and of the number of Presidents the Union has received at the hands of the South ! Was it necessary, then, in order to faU in with Mr. Lindsay's notions of justice, that on every occasion, invariably, unto the end, thirteen States should lay down the law to twenty-one ? that a population of less than twelve miUions, of whom four miUions are slaves, should dictate to a population of twenfy millions ? It was the North that brought about Mr. Lincoln's election ; but it was the South that elected Mr. Buchanan. Far from being below the line indicated by its numerical importance, the influence of the South was far above it. If the present war is simply an affair of tariffs, how is it that the Con federate Vice-President has formaUy declared, in the name of his party, that the question with them was the establish ment of a new repubUc on the basis of slavery? -How is it, as Mr. Forster re-called to mind, that not a single word relating to this tariff question is to be found in the proclamation of independence which was the signal for sepa ration ? The fact is, the real issue is slavery. That the North too long connived ' at this immoral institution ; that the negroes to whom the South offered the bitter bread of servi tude, were too often refused in the North the bread of free dom ; that humiliating concessions, such, for example, as the Fugitive Slave BUl, were made by the North through fear of a rupture of the federal bond ; that Mr. Lincoln did not inscribe on his banners: "AboUtion of Slavery;" that Fremont was recaUed from Missouri, and Hunter disavowed, for having wished to attempt the enlargement, the elevation, ofthe question- — is aU true. But what is not less so is, that the South, not content with living in the midst of slavery, Was desirous of extending it over the territories annexed to the United States; that the North was opposed to such a scheme ; that Mr. Lincoln was elected as representative of that opposition ; and, finaUy, that' the appeal of the Thirteen States against this judgment of the popular sovereignty was the real cause from which sprang the civU war. But this is precisely what the partisans of the South in England strive to put in the shade, because they fiUly under stand that England could not take her stand on the side of the HOW THE AMERICAN WAR IS VIEWED IN ENGLAND. 89 slave-owners, without tearing out with her own hands the noblest page in her history. Unfortunately, if the honour of the English people on this occasion is on one side, their interest, at least their immediate interest, happens to be on the other, which partly explains the sympathy which from the beginning was felt for the South in this country. Lord Vane Tempest stated, the day before yesterday, in the House of Commons, that one may read in Boston and other Northern towns, over the doors of certain shops : " No English goods sold here ; " and he added, by way of contrast, that at Richmond a member of the Confederate Government had said to him : " We look upon England as our workshop." Here we have a candid confession. In the Americans ofthe North the EngUsh fear protectionists, while in the Americans of the South they greet free-traders. They shudder at the idea of their trade in the North being shat tered against the barrier of tariffs, while their heads are turned at the idea of exchanging, without impediment, thefr manufactured articles against the raw materials of the South. Add to this the remembrance of many a provocation re ceived^ — ^resentment for many an insult swaUowed in silence — the diafribes of a considerable portion of the American press — the not unfounded opinion that the North, flooded with Germans and Irish^ has lost much of its EngUsh origin, and that the true representatives of the Saxon race in America are the Southerners — the political interest the EngUsh aristocracy have to see the prestige of republican institutions in America pass away — and, to omit nothing, the national interest Eng land has to see a Power, whose prodigious aggrandisement has for some time past caused her much umbrage, become weakened by intestine divisions. On the other hand, I must h.asten to state that these selfish motives by no means influence aU the elements of which English society is composed. If the party of narrow interests exists here, as everywhere, and possesses, as everywhere, sufficient power to draw public opinion after it, at a given moment, there is also the party of noble ideas, of generous sentiments, the party of justice. It is this one which, the day before yesterday, in the House of j Commons, so hap pUy inspfred Mr. Taylor and Mr. Forster ; and, to this one B 2 100 LETTERS ON ENGLAND., belong the magnanimous artisans of Lancashire who live, it might almost be said, in the jaws of death, without making the excess of thefr sufferings an excuse for threats, without yielding to agitation under the goadings of hunger, and without complaining of what they have to endure, in conse quence of those formidable battles, fought beyond the seas. At Blackburn, the destitution is so great that the number of persons reduced to accept of succour is 15,000. WeU, at Blackburn, a motion simUar to Mr. Lindsay's was lately sub mitted to a numerous meeting of workmen, and rejected by an almost unanimous vote. Mr. Taylor was right to mention this fact : it is one that does honour to a country. Unfortunately, the language of the press does not in general respond to the attitude of the working classes. In most of the papers, sympathy for the South is expressed in the most irri tating manner, whUe antipathy for the North pours forth, now in the form of virulent declamation, now in sarcasms that bite into the very blood. That which among the Southerners is manly courage, unfaiUng constancy, indomitable endurance, is in the case of the Northerners nothing but brutaUty, blood thirsty obstinacy, or presumption bordering on infatuation. Has the North gained any advantage, it is at flrst denied; then, when denial is impossible, it is attempted to diminish the importance of the success by a thousand subtle commen taries, by a thousand forced explanations. On the contrary, is the South victorious, there are no words pompous enough to celebrate its triumph. In huge chai-acters is written " Geeat Defeat op the Fedeeals," and Fame is caUed upon to blow aU her trumpets with the full force of her lungs. Ou Friday last, was not the report circulated that it was aU over ; that the contest was at an end ; that M'CleUan, reduced to the last extremity, had offered to surrender, but had been refused with scorn, so certain was his destruction ? People are generally inclined to believe what they most ardently desire. The City was full of the rumour. The Conser vative Clubs could not contain themselves for joy. However absurd was the news, many were bent on proclaiming it per fectly frue. Besides, how could one question it ? The Times had spoken. It was a singular thing, and one that ought to have attracted the notice of the least suspicious minds, that the rumour was set in circulation at the very moment when the HOW THE AMERICAN WAR IS VIEWED IN ENGLAND. 101 debate on Mr. Lindsay's motion was about to commence. 'What a surprising coincidence ! However, the issue of the debate was not, after aU, what the EngUsh separatists expected. The House of Commons at once perceived that a mediation proposed to the United States, after a defeat had been experienced, would be refused ; that from this refusal troublesome complications might arise ; that the recognition of the South, if they went so far as that, would make no change, absolutely none, in the frade between England and the insurgent States, so long as the North con tinued to battle against them ; that the only effects of such a recognition which could be reasonably foreseen, was a war with the Washington Governinent, a terrible war, a war to the death, in which case a dearth of corn would be added to the dearth of cotton in England. The Plouse of Commons was not disposed to kUl (the disease by kiUing the patient. "Leave to the Government," said Lord Palmerston, " the responsibiUfy of judging what there is to do, when it is expe dient to do it, and how it ought to be done." This perora tion was applauded, and Mr. Lindsay was obliged to withdraw his motion. For him and for those of his party it was a bootless campaign. The evil is, that this debate wiU furnish ample material for the furious outpourings of the New York Herald, and will kindle, 'on the other side of the Atlantic, resentments afready only too violently excited; for, I regret to say, the attacks directed against the North by Mr. Lindsay, and stiU more so by Mr. Gregory, were wanting both in moderation and justice. Both the one and the other uttered words that cannot be recaUed. As for their arguments, they wUl convince only those who have made up their minds beforehand to be convinced. Mr. Taylor said, with an eloquence that came from the heart : " That which lifts itself up from afar is the Nemesis of slavery." Yes, that Nemesis hovers over the fateful struggle which bathes in blood and tears in pieces a country only the other day so calm in outward appearance. Vainly will it be attempted, by putting forth I know not -what petty questions of pounds, shilUngs, and pence, to mislead the world as to the real character of this drama, one of the most terrible, but also one of the most instructive, that history ever furnished as 102 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. a spectacle to man. The South is cruelly punished for having had slaves ; the North is crueUy punished fpr having allowed it ; and Europe likewise is punished for not having repudiated slavery so far as it lay in her power, and for having proved wanting in the logic or the courage of its convictions. The lesson is a tragical one, if any ever was ; and it wUl survive. Let him, who dare, now deny the solidarity of nations. LETTER LXXIX. LOED PALMEESTON ATTACKED BT ME. .COBDEN. August 2nd, 1862. The end of the Parliamentary Session wa? marked by a grand combat. Three renowned champions appeared in the lists — Mr. Cobden, Lord Palmerston, and Mr. Disraeli. BriUiant has been this passage of arms, and it is worthy to be chronicled. You are aware how, after the faU of the WeUington minis try and the accession of the Whigs to power, Lord Palmer ston became Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Since that epoch, it may be strictly said that he has figured in the ranks of the Liberal partj' ; but he has figured there Uke a deserter who retains, in the camp over to which he has thought proper to pass, his ancient predilections and likings. Lord Palmerston has never ceased to be the pupil of Canning, and the mere idea of Parliamentary Reform makes him sick at heart. There was a time, however, when he seemed resolutely bent on amendment; and when to such as reproached him with forsaking the traditions of his master, he replied by quoting that celebrated passage from one of Canning's speeches: — "They who oppose progress because it is an innovation, are in danger of being one fine day forced to accept the innovation when it has ceased to be progress." I may add, that to his aUiance with the Whigs in 1830, Lord Palmerston owed the loss of his position as representative of LORD PALMERSTON ATTACKED BY MR. COBDEN. 103 the University of Cambridge, a position which he had held since 1811. In spite of all that, Henry John Temple, Viscount Palmer ston is at the bottom of his heart a Tory — as I have frequently had occasion to teU you, if I remember rightly, and as Mr. Cobden has just said to his own face in the presence of the House of Commons. Mr. Cobden belongs to that Liberal party of which Lord Palmerston is the official leader — and it is this which led to the attack. Mr. Cobden, in fact, is not — and how could it be expected that such a man would be? — one of those soldiers who obey orders without breathing a word, and who obey all the better for thinking less. He is qidte wiUing to ¦ foUow the captain ; but on condition that the captain 'wiU take some trouble to foUow his own banner. ¦ Is that what Lord Palmerston does ? When, no' very long time ago, he so rudely thrust aside the Derby Minisfry, and offered to take its place, on what title did he found his candidateship for office ? It was on his readi ness to substitute for the Reform BUl proposed by the Con servative Cabinet a biU more comprehensive, more frank, more democratic. Has he fulfilled this condition of his accession to the Ministry ? It becomes him, triUy, now to pretend, as his excuse, that the country did not appear to attach much importance to this reform, and that Mr. Bright is to blame for this, who frightened people by his extravagance and compromised aU ! In the struggle which preceded his victory over Lord Derby's Ministry, had not Lord Palmerston Mr. Bright on his side ? Did he not then openly accept him as a feUow-worker ? Was he then held back by the fear of seeing him push matters to extremities ? He weU knew, at that time, to whom he was aUied, as Mr. Disraeli reminded him with that sardonic harshness which characterises his talent. Mr. Bright is not one of those men who put thefr flag into their pocket. He speaks out openly ; his voice serves as the ready echo to his thoughts ; his frankness is as rude as his convictions are strong ; having nothing to conceal, he conceals nothing,* and his heart is an open book, in which those alone can be excused for not reading, who know not how to read. If Lord Palmerston, then, has not introduced the Reform BiU he was expected to initiate, it is because the leaning of his 104 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. mind is opposed to political innovations, and that his standard is not, in reality, that of the party whose leadership has so strangely faUen to his lot. What is the result ? The Liberal party, with Lord .Palmer ston at its head, goes on decomposing, dwindling awaj^, and discrediting itself. It has much to do, and does nothing. It is in power, and is actuaUy weaker than if it were in opposition. By what measure attesting its strength has the session, which is now near its end, been signalised ? Instead of advancing, the Liberal party has fallen back. If the Ballot question has not become ridiculous, it is certainly not owing to any stint of official raiUery. Seven years ago there was a majority in the House of Commons against the continuance of Church Rates in a fair way of winning the battle : at the present day that majority has so completely melted away, that Mr. Disraeli talks of ascending the Capitql and returning thanks to the gods. This is what Mr. Cobden complained of on Friday. He said rather bitterly, but very truly, that the Conservative party could have turned out the Premier if they had wished to do so ; but why did they not wish it ? Because they had more confidence in him than in their own leader. What is reaUy admirable in Lord Palmerston, is a serenify that nothing ever affects, a good humour that is never dis concerted, and a sort of joviaUty mUdly ironical which defeats attacks by depriving them somehow of anything of a serious character, even when they are most serious. How is it possible to get into a passion, or rouse others to passion against a man who is determined not to be angry ! Lord Pal merston is certainly not an orator of the first order, in the absolute sense of the word. He has neither the domineering force of Mr. Bright, nor the briUiancy and subtilty of Mr. Gladstone, nor the biting sarcasm of Mr. Disraeli, nor the argumentative vigour of Mr. Cobden. He even speaks with some hesitation, as if his thought were groping its way to the word. But what is best to be said in a given situation, and with regard to those who are listening to him, he says simply, clearly, and cheerily, Uke a man whose superiority can dispense with the trouble of fretting and fuming. There lies the secret of his oratorical power. He amuses himseUwith the vehemence of his opponents; he smUes at thefr threats with a patronising benevolence ; and I would be LORD PALMERSTON ATTACKED BY MR. COBDEN. 105 tempted to say that his is a good-tempered eloquence. Only one instance, I believe, is cited when it lost its self-control. It was in 1826 — you see it is necessary to go far back to find an example : Lord Palmerston had several times gone over the reasons which had closed the ranks of the army against a certain Colonel Bradley,,without Mr. Hume consenting to accept the explanation as satisfactory — Mr. Hume being at once the most honest and the most obstinate of men. This time. Lord Palmerston lost patience so far, as to aUow these violent words to escape him: — " If the honourable gentle man's understanding is obtuse, it is not my fault." But the exception proves the rule. No one, therefore, expected on Friday tp see Lord Palmer ston disquieted by Mr. Cobden's declaration of waif though the latter is a sturdy jouster. In fact, to the reproaches of his assailant the imperturbable ViscQunt replied by a cour teous expression of thanks. Between ourselves, he had no reason to do so, with regard to the points I have above pointed out. In accusing Lord Palmerston of not belonging to the party which he undertook to lead, Mr. Cobden had too much truth on his side for an answer to be possible, and on that head no answer was attempted to be returned. But where the Minister triumphed was in his reply to the attacks directed against the disturbing and extravagant character of his policy. No one handles facts and figures like Mr. Cobden. He proved unanswerably : That Lord Palmerston had expended this present year upon the army, the navy, and the fortifications, eight miUions sterUng over and above the sum deemed sufficient three years ago; That the Government, which in 1840 cost only £1 18s. 2d. per head, now cost £2 8s. Id. ; That the noble lord, without any necessity, had involved the country in four successive wars, far, far away in China ; That, after having, with ruinous improvidence, squandered thfrty milUons sterUng on the construction of wooden ships, he now threatened the country with an enormous outlay in the construction of fron ships ; That he had dispatched 8000 men to Canada, at the time of the Trent affau-, without awaiting the reply from America, 106 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. which would have either necessitated this costly expedition, or made it superfluous ; That his policy was a sensation policy ; That his tactics consisted in continuaUy inspiring England with fear of France, in order to have a motive for spending money, and at the same time a means of increasing his popu larity ; And, finaUy, that he alone had cost the English people one hundred millions sterling — a considerable price, even for a man of his merit ? Well, it was for having stated aU this that Lord Palmer ston tendered an expression of gratitude to Mr. Cobden ; and what is the most curious part of the affafr is, that he had good reason to do so. In truth, Mr. Cobden must know his own country very little, if he imagined for a single instant that he could shake Lord Palmerston's popularity by showing him to be excessively jealous of England's honour, and resolved to spare nothing to augment her power, to add to her influence, or to guarantee her safety. What panegyric in the eyes of this nation could be equiva lent to such an accusation ? Lord Palmerston may be, before all, English, English at any price, English towards and against all ; but is it in England that it wiU be imputed to him as a crime that he is too much of an Englishman ? The more Mr. Cobden was right as an economist and a moralist,, the more was he wrong as a poUtical tactician. Mr. DisraeU, who prides himself on being a parliamentary strategist, felt that his aUy for the moment had committed an error of judg ment. He endeavoured therefore to repair the breach by de claring that, after aU, Lord Palmerston had done less than his predecessors for the defence and armament of the country. He even claimed for the cabinet of which he himself had been a member the honour of having given the first impulse to the great Volunteer movement, which Lord Palmerston, on the contrary, turned'into ridicule, caUing it the " rifle-fever ; " and he continued on the same tone. But this was refuting what Mr. Cobden had advanced ; it was reproaching Lord Palmer ston with not having done enough in the very matters in which Mr. Cobden reproached him with having done too much. In short, this battle at the end of the campaign has been LORD PALMERSTON ATTACKED BY MR. COBDEN. 107 very badly managed on the part of the Premier's opponents — discontented Liberals and implacable Conservatives. If Mr. Cobden had no other object in view than to strike a blow at Lord Palmerston's popularity, he ought to have reflected that there are faults which national egotism readily converts into vfrtues. He ought to- have remembered that when, in April, 1857, he himself, Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Bright, Mr. MUner Gibson, Lord John RusseU, Mr. Roebuck, and others, attacked in concert and overthrew Lord Palmerston, accusing him of having violated, with regard to the Chinese, for an interest exclusively EngUsh, the eternal laws of justice, Lord Palmerston appealed from them to the country, and won the most brilliant victory that has ever been recorded in Par Uamentary annals. But if Mr. Cobden's aim was higher, nobler, and com pletely foreign to the miserable smaU tactics of a mUitant or mistaken ambition, then indeed he spoke as he ought to have spoken. But even in that case he ought not to have for gotten what I look for in vain in his speech, that is, the proof that in placing England in a state of defence without regard to the expense. Lord Palmerston has not been the faithftU representative of the sentiments and apprehensions of the EngUsh people. This proof Mr. Cobden did not give, simply because it was impossible that he should do so. And here, so far as France is concerned, Ues the moral of this debate. Yes, without doubt Lord Palmerston has ex pended, in the midst of profound peace, what might seem justifiable only in preparing for war. But while he was busied in fortifying the coasts, in renewing the navy, in manufacturing cannon, were the English people standing with their arms crossed ? Were not warUke habits gaining ground in this nation of traders and workers ? Did not the streets resound with the roU of the drum ? Was not the manage ment of fire-arms becoming one of the favourite pastimes of EngUsh youths ? Lord Palmerston said — nor can this be denied — that his policy of warlike preparation is justified by the Volunteer movement. He fears what his country fears ; he acts as his counfry acts ; it is on his counfry that all the reproaches rebound which Mr. Cobden heaped upon him. And if England is wrong in distrusting France to such a point, notwithstanding the many efforts made to give her 108 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. confidence, whence comes it ? It comes, as I have said more than once, and as I shaU never weary of repeating, it ' comes from this, that France does not live under a system of publicity which would allow the English to see clearly into her intentions, sentiments, and sympathies. So long as there is not broad dayUght in France, England wiU remain on the qui vive 1 LETTER LXXX. GAME LAWS IN ENGLAND. August Zrd, 1862. The " Night Poaching Act " has just been voted. When, in Luther's time, the Black Forest roused itself, and, under the leadership of the inn-keeper Metzler, the peasants of Thuringia, Franconia, and Suabia, shouted that cry which awoke such formidable echoes throughout Ger many, what was the purport of the fourth of the Twelve Articles which composed the programme of the great insur rection? This fourth article was as foUows : "ToaU belong the bfrds of the air, the fishes in the rivers, and the beasts in the forests ; for to aU, in the person] of the first man, the Lord gave authority over animals." ^ It was partly to recover this authority over animals, ;usurped by a few, that the peasants revolted. They took an Anabaptist for their leader, and a white cross for their banner. They kiUed and were kUled, and Germany was flooded with blood. In fact, how can it be denied that there is not something odious in the exclusive privilege of shooting ? Because I say : " This forest is mine," am I justified in saying, " mine, too, is the deer that crosses it ; mine the bird that flies overhead ; mine that portion of the air which marches with the borders of this piece of land which is my property ?" Must the right of possession in the soU enlarge until it becomes the monopoly of aU nature ? If it were possible for a limited number of persons to get possession of the celestial Ught, would it be GAME LAWS IN ENGLAND. 109 lawful for them to monopolise it, and woulcL the world recog nise their proprietorship of the sun ? I am not sure that in the minds of certain landlords in England this last question would not be answered in the affirmative ; but this, at all events, is beyond a doubt, that the manner in which they understand and in general exercise their game privUeges is, perhaps, of so many abuses, the one that places in boldest relief the vices of the feudal tenure of the soU. Not that the ideas which now prevaU among the English landlords on this subject are what they were when to kiU a deer or one of the king's subjects were two crimes equally abominable and liable to the same punishment. After having disposed of the ancient forest laws, by virtue of which there was only one sportsman in the country — the king — civUisation has also done away with that iniquitous and barbarous legis lation which reserved for the amusement of a limited number of nobles an entfre class of animals and of birds, which no one, outside of the privUeged class, could kiU, or even have in his possession, without incurring a severe penalty. The abuses which resulted from such a state of things were so numerous and so unbearable, so many disputes and acts of violence were engendered by it, and it gave rise to so many scandals, that in 1831 it was determined to apply a remedy. It was taking up the matter rather late, as you perceive. In France the people did not wait so long. So far back as the 7th of August, 1789, the exclusive right of shooting, already condemned on the celebrated night of the 5th of August, was aboUshed by the National Assembly — in this sense, at least, that the right to destroy game was recognised as belonging to every landed proprietor over his own domain, but there alone. It was not even thought necessary to respect Louis XVI.'s great passion for shooting. No scruple was felt about interfering with the plaisirs du roi. By the abolition of the capitaineries, the insupportable tyranny of the royal pre serves was cut short. FinaUy, in the law itself, so to speak, were written these words of Mfrabeau : " Every man has the right to shoot over his own field ; no man has a right to shoot over his neighbour's field : this principle is sacred for the monarch as for every one else." But England does not tread the path of progress with such 110' LETTERS TON ENGLAND. ? a fleet foot as France, though she treads it with a much surer one. It was, then, in 1831, under the reign of William IV., that the decision was come to in England to raise the hand against a legislation which Blackstone had branded as " estab lishing a little Nimrod in every manor, so far differing from the ancient forest laws which delivered the kingdom over to one powerful, but sole, hunter." The reform consisted in this, that every individual furnished with a Ucence received the right of shooting over his own domain, or over his neighbour's, with the proprietor's per mission. At the same time the sale of game was legalised, xmder certain reservations. The word "game" was defined as including hares, pheasants, partridges, heathcocks, bustards, &c. It was specified, with a view to the rearing of game, at what seasons it was forbidden to kiU the different species. It was further laid down, that whosoever would kiU game, in the day time, without having a proper licence, should be con demned to a fine of five shiUings, and that night poaching should be punishable by simple imprisonment for the first and second offence, and by transportation for the third. It was substituting for a very great evil one of rather smaUer dimensions : that was aU. Observe, in fact, what has occurred under the empire of this new legislation. The game on the farm is supposed to belong to the farmer unless the landlord speciaUy reserve it for himself, as almost invariably happens. And what is the result ? an incalcidable damage done to the cultivator by the ravages of the game. It has been stated officiaUy, and after a formal inquiry, that the loss sustained by the cultivator of an estate in which the game is preserved, greatly exceeds the total amount of the taxes for which the estate is liable — poor-rates, county rates, church-rate, income-tax, &c. In order to indemnify the farmer for such a considerable loss, it has been calculated that a dimi nution of the rent to the extent of 30 per cent, would not be too much. Now, there is hardly one landlord in fifty who thinks himself bound to indemnify those whose industry is thus placed as second to his pleasures. An enormous quantity of produce destroyed, the fertility of the soil diminished, less capital applied to agriculture, less labour employed, a fatal blow struck at the prosperity of the farmer and the very existence of the labourer, — such are the disastrous conse- GAME LAWS IN ENGLAND. Ill quences engendered by the exercise of the absolute right of ownership when extended to the right of shooting. It would be something if the evil stopped even there. But no. By feeding, preserving, and protecting the game in order that his lordship at his own time may have the pleasure of kiUing it, an irresistible temptation is offered to the greed of the poacher. And as not even a vote of Parliament is enough to make, in the opinion of the country people, the ownership of a pheasant absolutely the same sort of thing as that of a pig, or a wild animal to be of the same nature as a domestic animal, or poaching as disreputable as theft, it happens that so far from having the peasant against him, the poacher is very often a viUage hero. The viUagers admire his pluck ; they take an interest in his perUs ; they talk to each other of his exploits ; they greet him with their sympathies in the sometimes blood-stained war he wages against the gamekeepers. Thus, the preservation of game for the pleasures ' of these gentlemen is not less detrimental to the moraUty of country people than to the progress of agricul ture. Useless to add that it is a permanent cause of dissension between the landlord and the farmer, and that it tends to arm against one another two classes which cannot come into coUision without the whole social system being disturbed by the shock. But when the premises are admitted, the conclusion must be admitted too, if logical. It is in vain to pretend to escape from the natural consequences of the feudal tenure of. the soil, if the principle be once accepted. In the month of June, 1862, Lord Berners, a sportsman of high rank, conceived the idea of taking up to the House of Lords certain weapons which he deposited in the robing room, it being contrary to the regulations that any member of the House should appear armed before the Lord Chan ceUor. These arms had been used by night poachers in his Lord ship's county. They were frightful to behold, and Lord Berners brought them to show how they might serve to kiU, not only hares and partridges, but also men. The wages of a gamekeeper are generaUy twelve shiUings a-week. Twelve shillings a-week to have one's head broken at the moment when it is least expected ! Decidedly, it is not 112 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. enough. However, in placing before the eyes of his horrified coUeagues those terrible instruments of death, Lord Berners' object was by no means to fill thefr Lordships with admira tion of the heroism of their gamekeepers. No ; his motive was simply to render more effective the foUowing inquiry : "Is it the intention of the Government to introduce, during the present session, any measures against poaching ? " Lord Delamere declared the matter urgent. Lord Derby related, in a tone to make one shudder, the tragical history of three attacks which his gamekeepers had undergone in the short space of three years, the actors in which he himself had had to prosecute. The indignation of thefr Lordships was at its climax. An end must be put to this sort of thing ; the rural poUce must be instructed to watch, in concert with the gamekeepers, over the preservation of game. Was the Go vemment at last prepared to act, and vigorously ; yes, or no ? Lord GranviUe answered, No ; but he added, that if Lord Berners brought in a BiU touching this matter, the Govern ment would offer no opposition. The consequence was that a BUl was introduced for the suppression of poaching at any cost. The means of which the sportsmen sitting in the Upper House bethought them, consisted in placing henceforth among the official duties of the rural police, that of looking for and arresting on the high-road whoever might be suspected of having in his possession game iUegaUy obtained. The law, as it then existed, was afready sufficiently strict, as you shaU see; it stated that, " If any one shall be found, by day or by night, having on his person game which may appear to have been recently killed, the right of effecting its seizure shall belong to the landlord, the farmer, the game keeper, or any other servant, whether of the landlord or the farmer." It was this law, a veritable loi des suspects, that the Lords demanded to have so modified as to make every poUceman an official auxiUary to their servants. Great was the agitation caused by this unexpected preten sion. The Liberals uttered cries of rage, to which the Con servatives replied by cries of fury. Respect for the rights of property ! Such was the device the latter inscribed on their banners. The Times supported them warmly, and maintained that the question was a very simple one : it was merely to GAME LAWS IN ENGLAND. 113 assimUate the ownership of game to that of a house, and to write in the law : "A poacher is a thief." But to this the Liberal party repUed, that the popular senti ment protested with invincible force against this assimilation, and that aU the laws in the world would be powerless. The people, from whose ranks issue poachers, gamekeepers, and policemen, insist upon believing that there is a distinction to be established between a pheasant and a barn-door fowl, be tween a fox and a sheep. They do not deny that* it may be possible to tame pheasants, but they strenuously deny that the way to do so is to drive them into the woods in order to have the pleasure of kiUing them there. They find it hard to understand that from the necessity of preserving domestic and useful animals the conclusion should be drawn, that there is also a necessity for preserving for the amusement of idlers many a wUd animal which devastates the crops and fiUs the agriculturist with despair. In the eyes of the landlords 'themselves, poaching is far from having the same character, absolutely the same character, as theft. How often has it happened that the son or younger brother of a landlord was surprised in the act of shooting at a pheasant, or catching a hare in a springe ! Were they repudiated by their family as thieves ? At the time of the discussion in the English papers raised by the Bill to which I am aUuding, the Spectator pubUshed a remarkable article, the writer of which said : " I remember that one day, when I was a chUd, a desperate battle took place, not far from my father's house, between three gamekeepers, one of whom was armed with a cutlass, and a certain Mike Preston, the most notorious poacher in the counfy. Mike contrived to make his , escape, though seriously wounded, and not long afterwards was selected as a gamekeeper by one of the most intractable game-preservers in the neighbourhood. Mr. Walter, per haps, wiU say that there is nothing Uke setting a thief to catch a thief. WeU, then, let him engage as his butler a man who has stolen his plate, and we wiU acknowledge the cogency of his reasoning." Many other and equally strong arguments were adduced by the organs of the Liberal press. They insisted upon the impossibUity of marking game with a distinctive mark, Uke sheep or poultry; whence it results that it is almost impossible 114 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. to procure a proof of the larceny. They dwelt upon the inquisitorial character of the proposed intervention, on the acts of tyranny for which it would afford an opening, and on the danger of rendering the rural police odious to the rural population, by compelling it to interfere in the contest between the landed proprietors and the farmers. They expressed their astonishment that there should be any idea of furnishing landlords, so as better to protect their " pleasures, with ser vants paidl* by the public in addition to those paid by themselves. They showed that the BiU could not pass with out entaiUng a considerable and costly augmentation of the rural police. They asked in virtue of what principle of justice, ¦ or social interest, the legislature was called upon to impose such a tax upon the people for the preservation of animals which, independently of what they devour, damage the young trees, destroy the flowers, and lay waste the crops ? They proved, while condemning and reprobating poaching, that the proposed remedy would be only one evil added to another. Useless reasonings ! Idle protests ! The partisans of the proposition denounced the opposition to it as factious ; yes, factious. One of them, Mr. Walter, a gentleman whose rela tions with the Times constitute him a power, swore by St. Hubert that pheasants are animals essentiaUy domestic, that ' know the gamekeepers, are known by them, and answer to the names which have been given to them, Uke horses or dogs. " Such being the case," pleasantly exclaimed the Spectator, " gamekeepers wiU have no trouble in recognising the dead bodies of their humble friends, and the examination before the magistrate wiU have something of the air of an inquest. Let us hope that the result wiU not be too much hard swear ing." But where good sense armed with invective failed, good sense armed with irony was also doomed to fail. On the 22nd of July the BiU, after having been unanimously voted in the House of Lords, was discussed in Committee by the more direct representatives of the nation, in a manner calcu lated to remove aU doubts as to the flnal result. Mr. Henley and Lord Stanley strongly opposed the BUl. The former demon strated that, in faciUtating the preservation of game, the BiU, so far from extinguishing poaching, would feed it. The latter adjured his coUeagues not to give the people an excuse aud the right to say that, at the very close of the session, and DESTITUTION IN LONDON. 115 in a time of unprecedented suffering, the members of the House of Commons had found nothing better to do than to vote a law for their own pleasures. Nothing availed. Not only was the original BiU greeted, at each division, by a triumphant majorify, but.the measure relative to night-poach ing was extended also to day -poaching. AU that it was pos sible for the Liberal party to obtain was the rejection of a clause which subjected to an inquisitorial inspection the books of the dealers in game. Finally, on Friday last, the Night Poaching Act, having passed its thfrd reading, was defini tively voted. And, now, what does this prove ? Two things : first, that the feudal tenure of the soil in England engenders deplorable abuses ; and, secondly, that it arms the proprietors of the soil with a political power, the monopoly of which serves to per petuate the abuses which are for their benefit. LETTER LXXXI. DESTITUTION IN LONDON. August nth, 1862. In spite of its so much vaunted poUce, London has ceased to be a city which one can traverse at night, with mind at rest and the hands in the pockets. For some days past, nothing has been talked of but of men being suddenly half strangled and robbed in the streets. This is what happened about a week ago, at eleven o'clock at night, quite close to my own house; and the case might be cited of a member of the House of Commons who, only a short time since, had reason to think himself fortunate that h'e was not kiUed outright in PaU MaU, a very fashionable quarter, and, what is more to the point, exceedingly well lighted at night. Is it the Exhibition that is answerable for this revival of ugly adventures ? It might be thought so, did not the provinces furnish to paragraphists thefr contingent of lugubrious stories. But there, also, the I 2 116 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. slime very frequently rises to the surface. News have in succession reached us of imaccountable deaths, of mysterious crimes. Suicide, too, is on the increase. In the newspapers " The Suicide Mania " has become a stereotyped heading ! For some months past, it has faUen to the lot of Baron Lionel Rothschild to receive, day after day, letters of the most threatening character. " We must have £500. If you are of opinion that your Ufe is worth more than a miserable sum of £500, let us know it through the newspapers. If not — a word to the wise. A. B." The chapter of misdemeanours would be a long one, were I to enter into detaUs and omit nothing ; which proves, be it parentheticaUy observed, that even in England one does not live in the best of possible worlds — much, less elsewhere. From crime to indigence, the transition is as natural as that from effect to cause. Now, England, whicli is the land of extreme wealth, is also the land of extreme poverty. I doubt if there be anywhere on the globe a spot where one is exposed to see poverty under a more hideous aspect, or in a state of more profound degradation. I was going one day, in company with a friend, a French man like myself, along that magnificent, road which is bordered on one side by a row of houses that are palaces, and on the other by Kensington Park, to my thinking, the finest in the world. It was Sunday. At that hour there were few persons about, and, where we were walking, not a soul. I am wrong; for we observed at a short distance, dragging himself on in front of us, a man — was it a man ? Yes, it was a man, a being who, as we are told, was made in the image of God ! He was half-naked, and his feet were quite bare. He was evidently not a,ware that we were following him. Suddenly he stopped, his ej'es fixed upon something that was there, not far from him, on the ground, in the dust. He was moving towards that something, when we overtook him. On seeing us, he sat down on the edge of the pathway, as if he were tired, and we passed him. " Did you notice that poor wretch with the haggard countenance?" asked my friend. "Yes," I replied, "it is the spectre of hunger." — " Do you know why he stopped ? " — " 'Why ? " — " He stopped to pick DESTITUTION IN LONDON. 117 up and eat a piece of orange peel." — " Nonsense ! " — " You shall see." We turned sharp round. My friend was right. You guess the rest. " A beggar's comedy ! " wUl, perhaps, be the exclamation of people who think themselves strong-minded. And if it were so ? What a state must that be which coidd force a human being to act such a comedy, under such cfrcumstances, with the frame of a skeleton and a face — that face wUl never fade from my memory ; I see it now. Nor is this, one of those exceptional cases the import of which may weU be questioned. Of course, such encounters are rare in the handsome and wealthy quarters of the town. But to surprise want in its squalid undress, it is by no means necessary to beat it up in its lowest haunts. At certain periods' of the year it takes care to come before you, as if in a hurry to meet your eye. In one of my preceding letters I related how, one fine day, the American banker, Mr. George Peabody, wrote to the American Minister, to Lord Stanley, and other distinguished personages, that, Providence having blessed his labours, he had acquired a fortune which enabled him to place at the disposal of the poor a sum of £150,000. Precisely at that date a letter appeared in the Times, stating a fact which was not in itself extraordinary, but which, from the manner in which it was presented, did not fail to give rise to Uvely comments. An AustraUan, fresh landed, met in the city a little gfrl beautiful as an angel, who was walking with bare feet, shed ding hot tears, and shivering in her rags ; for it was stUl winter, and the morning was as cold as ice. The AustraUan, on questioning the chUd, learnt from her that she was an orphan, and after giving her a few halfpence he was going away, sad at heart, when he perceived a poUceman. He ran up to him and pointed to the girl. The poUceman smUed, shrugged his shoulders, and, without answering a word, directed the atten tion of the compassionate stranger to half-a-dozen Uttle girls, not so pretty, perhaps, as the first one, but who, like her, were in rags, and shivered, and wept. On returning to his lodgings, the AustraUan lost no_ time in writing a letter to the Times, expressing his astonishment that such abject misery elbowed such opulence, and asking why means were not taken to send these unfortunate creatures to the country 118 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. from which he had lately come, and where there was abund ance wherewith both to feed and to clothe them. The reply appeared on the morrow, signed " W. D. B." W. D. B., a man of a noble heart, and well known in the philanthropic world for having proposed the substitution of a metropoUtan poor's-rate for the different local rates, — W. D. B. roundly rated the Australian for the few coppers he had given to the little girl, teUing him that, in aU probability, a few paces distant, at the door of a public-house, there was lounging about some abominable blackguard waiting for the alms which he intended to convert into gin. And W. D. B. was right, hor ribly right. The infamous indusfry he denounced, exists,- prospers, and enjoys the advantages of free trade. Only, it has need of winter, bad weather, rain, mud, and frost. Then, indeed, the poor little slaves whom thefr tyrants drive into the streets cannot avoid" suffering very crueUy, which enables them to act Uke nature the comedy of destitution, and conse quently to catch simpletons in the net of pity. But wh^t ! must we have a heart of brass ? Is it necessary that when ever a sweet, shivering angel, clad in rags, looks at you imploringly, you should bear in mind the rogue who swaUows the glass of gin ? Must we fear to become the accompUce of the tyrant as soon as we are touched with the tears of the victim ? Are alms to be prohibited as if they were a crime ? Yes, all that is absolutely necessary ! Things have come to that point, in our so-much-vaunted civilisation, that pity, holy pity, is a sentimental folly, and the act it inspires well- nigh ctJpable ! Is there no remedy, then, for this frightful evil ? Nobody seems seriously to ask himself if there be, or be not, one, or where it is to be looked for. The practice is, to let alone. And yet destitution does not exclusively concern the desti tute. People may deny as long as they please the oneness of human interests, but it is asserted from time to time by facts peremptory enough to constitute a formal demonstration. Do you know what we learn from Dr. Letheby's last report ? It teaches us that the chief disease of the three months which have just elapsed has been fever ; that the number of deaths caused by fever during this last quarter rose from twenty-five to ficfty-three; that it is brought into London by persons CHURCH AND STATE IN ENGLAND. 119 without fixed residence, vagrants ; and, strange to say, that the scourge which has come on the wings of poverty has raged more fatally among the wealthy than among the impoverished classes. Now, when I say this, do not suppose that I wish to bring an accusation against England. Assuredly if it sufficed for a people, in order to be free from this double disease, to be humane and charitable, no people in the world would be found in a better moral position than the English. For it is not humanity, it is not charify, that is here deficient. Far from it. How many acts of beneficence are performed under the veil of secresy ! How many hospitals founded and supported by voluntary confributions ! What sums of money spent for praiseworthy purposes ! But that is not the question. It is of no use to try to do away with the consequences. What is required is courage to hunt out the causes ; and that courage is wanting. What good is there in recurring to paUiatives where remedies are caUed for ? Impossible to imagine any thing more barren, in this respect, than the Parliamentary Session which has just closed. It is true that much attention was paid to the Monitor and the Merrimac ! LETTER LXXXII. CHUECH AND STATE IN ENGLAND, WITH EEFEEENCE TO THE QUESTION OE CHUECH-EATES. August lith, 1862. At the moment when the situation of Italy forcibly places before an attentive world the important question of a "Free Church in a Free State," you will, perhaps, not think it inap propriate if I briefly explain what is the nature of the union between Church and State in England. In a former letter I pointed out as one of the characteristic incidents of the last session of ParUament the rejection of Sir John Trelawny's proposition, tending to the pure and simple abolition of church-rates ; that is, of the parochial taxes the product of which is speciaUy devoted to the maintenance of churches. 120 LETTERS ON ENGLAND, In realify, the question was a very simple matter, at least in appearance. The point was merely to decide if it be just, yes or no, that a considerable portion of the community should be constrained to contribute their money for the sup port of churches to which they do not care at aU to go, to which they do not go, and in which worship is performed in a manner not their own, which some of them, rightly or wrongly, esteem dangerous. It must also be added, that the law relative to the payment of church-rates, though the same for aU England for centuries past, is not, and never has been, but partiaUy observed. Its execution depends on the votes of the majority at each meeting of the vestry. There are many parishes where the majorify wiU not assent to the tax, and there are others where the minority refuses to submit to it, tmless by force. It is, there fore, practicaUy, a law which is no law for one half of England. Moreover, the penalty attached to the refusal consists of an ecclesiastical censure, which is equivalent to impunity, almost; so that, in fact, a number of parishes pay no attention whatever to it. In large towns there is very Uttle Question of the obUgatory payment of church-rates, and stUl less so in the metropolis. I know something about this from my own experience ; for in the list of my taxes, the article " church- rates " is inserted merely as an entry. If we now venture upon an examination of the matter in dispute, we shaU be led to ask ourselves with astonishment how there can be two opinions on the subject. "When a man has his own fashion of praying to the Deity, which he thinks the best, it is strange that any one should attempt to constrain him to loosen his purse-strings in order to assist his neighbour to pray in a different manner. And mark this, — wherever reUance is placed on the agency of church-rates to keep churches in repair, they are always in a pitiable condition, — damp, dark, badly ventUated, and present ing, as Sir John Trelawny happUy observed, an aspect as lugubrious as is the tone of voice with which the majorify of ' preachers announce to their flock the ¦" glad tidings." It is a fact so undoubted, so universaUy recognised, that where the inhabitants of a parish are ashamed of having a shabby look ing church, they excuse themselves by saying; " Ours is only a chui'ch-rate church." CHURCH AND STATE IN ENGLAND. 121 For such a result, is it worth the trouble of seeming to be, nay, of being, unjust ? "What so great interest, then, can the Established Church of England have in thus exciting pubUc feeling against herself, by appearing to desire to thrust her hands by force into people's pockets ? What does she hope to gain in considera tion, in influence, in moral authority ? That every inhabitant shoiUd have been' bound to contribute to the maintenance of the church in his own parish, at an epoch when nobody would have dared to profess opinions contrary to those of the Esta bUshed Church, is conceivable ; but it is not easy to under stand how this obUgation has survived the Act of Parliament which, under WiUiam and Mary, sanctioned every man's right to worship the Deity according to the inspiration of his own conscience. If there be one logical conclusion to be drawn from the famous Act of Toleration, it is, assuredly, that the system of church-rates ought to be aboUshed as quickly as possible, and replaced by that of voluntary contributions. But the question is not thus understood by the Conserva tives of the true school ; by Sir John, Pakington and Mr. DisraeU, for example. Only feign to question the popularity, the vitaUty, the strength of the Established Church, and their faces flush with the purple hue of indignation. But if you draw from this popularity, this vitality, this strength of the Established Church, the natural conclusion, that voluntary offerings cannot faU her, they wiU answer you as if the Established Church of England had no other life than what was given to her by law ; as if she were doomed to die of starvation on the day when she would no longer be authorised to seize the passer-by by the coUar ; as if her existence, in short, reposed on the obligatory and threatening character with which vestry resolutions are endowed. You see, now, to what is reduced this question of church- rates, which, brought forward for the first time in 1834, has never since ceased to agitate the religious world in this country, which has given rise to the introduction of twenty-three different BiUs, which has furnished matter for upwards of a hundred parliamentary discussions, which has been again and again taken into consideration by the House of Commons, again and again rejected by the House of Lords, and which is not yet set at rest. 122 - LETTERS ON ENGLAND.' How can we doubt the importance attached to it by aU parties, when we reflect that there is no sort of compromise ' which has not been imagined to evade the difficulty ? First of aU, it was proposed to exempt Dissenters from tho tax, on condition that they should allege their dissent as the ground for their exception ; but to that it was objected that many would feel an invincible repugnance to being* labeUed as scabby sheep. It was then suggested that every one who wished to free himself from the tax shoiUd be aUowed the right to do so without assigning any reason. Then came Sir G. C. Lewis, who enunciated the idea of substituting for church-rates a tax levied on the seats occupied in a church by the faithful ; a sure means, according to Sir George, of reaching only those whom it was proper to reach, while avoiding aU scandal of classifications. But' to each new scheme new objections were made, and the question does not seem further advanced to-day than it was twenty-eight years ago. Is not this a sfrange history ? And may it not be that behind this question. of church-rates, so simple at first sight as to seem ridiculous, a far more important one is lying con cealed,- — that of the separation of Church and State ? Some Uttle time ago, at a semi-ecclesiastical meeting held at Aylesbury, vsdth the Bishop of Oxford in the chafr, Mr. . Disraeli exclaimed : — " How can it be denied that in this country the' union of Church and State is menaced and attacked ? It is attacked in the most exalted place in the realm, in ParUament ; it is menaced in an assembly in which the power of the Church would be irresistible, if churchmen would combine together. How many Bills were there introduced in the last session of Parliament, aU, under different forms, having one sole end in view — to undermine the Church and the most precious privi leges of churchmen ! Our mode of distributing charities is caUed in question ; our cemeteries are threatened with in vasion ; our adversaries aim at changing our marriage law, at ' facilitating ' our public worship, as they pretend, and at despoiling of its national character the sacred constitution of our Church. As to church-rates, my opinion is well kno'wn. I believe that their complete, unconditional aboUtion 'would be a terrible blow struck at the aUiance between Church and CHURCH AND STATE IN ENGLAND. 123 State, and that imder no possible or imaginable cfrcumstances should such a concession be made." Here the importance attached by the Conservative party to the maintenance of church-rates is explained with all desirable precision. Only, let there be no mistake in the matter. What Mr. DisraeU is pleased to call the union of Church and State signifies nothing else than the support accorded to the Tory. party by the EstabUshed Church of England. Of these two forms of alUance, the latter alone is in force ; as for the former, it no longer exists, strictly speaking, save in theory, at least if by the word aUiance is meant an offensive -and defensive union. The time has passed, indeed, in England when Queen Anne could not venture outside of h"er palace without seeing her carriage immediately surrounded by an excited mob, crying at the top of thefr voice : " We hope your Majesty is for Dr. Sacheverell and the Church ! " . Pious executions in Smithfield are no longer in fashion. There is no more talk of roasting anybody for the love of Heaven. If we go back to the reign of WiUiam III., and caU to mind the interminable reUgious disputes which took place in Parliament on the subject of the " Toleration BiU," the "Comprehension Bill," the division of the clergy into High Church and Low Church, the oath of allegiance and supremacy, &c., &c., it reaUy seems as if at that period the House of Commons must have been composed of churchmen. But that is now ancient history, very ancient. The House of Commons, such as it has become through process of time, has learned to trouble itself very little about theology. It asks of Ministers, not to what sect they belong, but what are thefr ideas as to the. best means of improving the administration and balancing the budget. It has no desire to explain the Thirty-nine Articles. To trace the exact line of demarcation that ought to exist between orthodoxy and heterodoxy is the smaUest of its cares. It occupies itself with its own business, and leaves the clergy to mind thefrs. Profane tendencies these ! Their development is naturally watched by men of Mr. Disraeli's stamp with dis quietude. But what is to be done ? The torrent flows in that direction. " Combine, combine !" cries Mr. Disraeli tothe churchmen, " and you wiU stUl hold the waU." The advice would, cer- 124 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. tainly, be most judicious, if, to be followed, it needed only to be given. Unfortunately, or rather, fortunately, the clergy in England are not constituted so skilfuUy as in France with regard to unity. There is no Pope at their head. They have no centre from which radiate aU the threads forming the tissue of their hierarchy. They do not start from that absolute principle of exclusivism from which Catholicism derives so large a portion of its power of cohesion. Thus, whatever be their influence on education and that which is secured by the religious habits of the English people, there is no fear of thefr hereafter usurping power over the State, even if that perfect understanding which is recommended to them were less difficult to realise. The Catholic clergy are an army, a veritable army, possessed of what constitutes the force of an army — unity of leadership, and discipUne. It is this which renders them, as regards the State, an embarrassment and a danger. The Protestant clergy, happily for themselves and for ^aU, cannot reasonably pretend to such excessive honour. Pro testantism, do what it may, cannot escape from the impo tence to which it is conflned by the very logic of its principle ¦ — freedom of search. It has been'untrue to its origin, it has aimed at intolerance, it has affected despotic afrs ; but aU that could only last for a time, because it is impossible that a prin ciple should not, sooner or later, bring forth the consequences it envelops. Indeed, this is proved by what is now passing in England. Who could have thought that the day would ever come when in this country the Bible would be laid open by the most learned men, the most famous and respected among the active members of the Established Church, to commentaries embiied with aU the audacity of modern German criticism ? It is true that the spfrit of persecution has been brought into play; that the cry, " The Church is in danger ! " has been raised by the Bishop of Salisbury ; that -the jurisdiction of the Arches Court has been invoked against aU the heretics of the " Essays and Reviews," and that their book has been tabooed. But what has been the result of the anathemas fulminated on this occasion against freedom of search? When the Trent was stopped by Captain Wilkes, the captain of the EngUsh vessel was reading a book on deck^: it was the " Essays and Reviews." The fact is, that never was this audacious criticism WILLIAM ROUPELL. 125 of the Bible by theologians commissioned to teach it, so eagerly devoured as since their excommunication. And it is not only laymen who have been moved by it. Several members of the clergy — a thing worthy of note — have afready given the example of men who prefer to throw up their Uvings to renouncing thefr right to freedom of thought. Mr. Davidson, the highest theological authorify among the Independents, has entered so warmly upon the path opened by the ringleaders of heresy, that he has passed beyond them. Listen to the peremptory terms in which he rejects the necessity of inspiration in the teaching of religious truths. "These truths," he says, "have a value quite independent of him who enunciates them. What matter whether it was Moses, or any one else, who composed the Pentateuch ? Do those who admire the poetic beauties of the ' lUad,' only do so on condition of being satisfied on the historic question of the identity of Homer?" I could mention many other instances, aU characteristic of the movement to be noticed here in the domain of religious ideas. It shows that Protestantism is wedded to liberty by the very force of its own principle. Having started from freedom of search, it no longer rests with itself not to return to freedom of search ; and it is its glory not to possess the constituent qualities of tyranny. LETTER LXXXIII. WILLIAM EOUPELL. August 2Zrd, 1862. The eyes of England, as those of the whole world, are at this moment fibted upon the Italian drama, and I shaU take care not to leave you in ignorance of the aspect under which it appears to the English people. But, on one hand, I shaU always have time to communicate to you my ideas on this subject,— the problem of the destinies of Italy, alas ! not yet being near to its solution ; and, on the pther hand, your paper contains every day so many details on this department of 126 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. human affafrs, that your readers, perhaps, will not be dis pleased with me if I present to thefr curiosity fresh aliment in giving them a report of a trial which has shared with Garibaldi's movements the honour of keeping the English public in good wind. If you had cast your eyes, a short time ago, over the list of the parliamentary notabUities of this country, you would have found, among other names more or less celebrated, that of William Roupell. This William Roupell was the son of a man who had acquired by trade a considerable fortune ; and, like all new men, he had no sooner entered into the world than he burned to make a figure in it. He set to work to Uve in great sfyle; he ' kept his horses and lackeys ; there was not a single fashionable club at the door of which his Uvery was not seen; . in every circle of society to which wealth gives access, he was welcomed and made much of. I have read, I know not where, that when the exquisites of Belgra-via condescended to play with him for heavy stakes, it was only after the manner of that Scotch lord of whom Sir Walter Scott speaks, who, for want of better, played on the threshold of his house with the first beggar who turned up ; possibly so, but what does it matter ? The main point with him was, that he was received in Belgravia, and Belgravia, in receiving him, gave him a title to be a man of fashion. He was ambitious to be a member of ParUament, and he became one. As he piqued himseK on his liberalism, was an advocate of the baUot, declared himself opposed to church-rates, and promised to vote, when the -time came, in favour of extension of the franchise, the good people of Lambeth, that is, of one of the most populous and democratic districts of London, could not contain themselves for joy when Mr. WilUam RoupeU con sented to be thefr representative. In short, for some few years he found himself enjoying all the happiness which, in the best of aU possible worlds, is attached to the possession of a handsome income. If it be true, as Mr. DisraeU once remarked, that a man who has £8000 a year in Consols, without any family to bring up, or a counfry house to keep up, possesses Aladdin's lamp, that marvellous lamp had faUen to the lot of WiUiam RoupeU, and, one would think, he might have been satisfied. WILLIAM ROUPELL. 127 But no : there are men whose wants resemble the tub of the Dana'idse, and WUliam Roupell was one of those. It there fore came to pass that one day his resources were exhausted, and he himself fled into Spain. There, in the serenity of his retirement, he discovered that he had a conscience. He reflected that aU this immense fortune which he had dissipated did not belong to him ; that he had only confrived to get possession of it by a frightful series of thefts and forgeries, by deceiving his father and mother, his brothers and sisters, by forging deeds of gift and mortgaging estates on the security of forged title deeds, by forging a will, by counterfeiting signatures, by ruining his famUy. Thereupon he took a decisive step, left his asylum, and, at the moment of my writing these lines, the unexpected revelations which he has made, without being in any way compeUed to do so, except by remorse, are the principal topic of conversation in the law courts and in society. Few novels are so good as this true story. William RoupeU's father having been induced by the oppcsition of his family to maintain an iUicit intercourse with a woman whom he wished to marry, had by this woman several children, of whom WilUam was the second. At a later period he estabUshed, by a marriage in due form, the . position of her whom he loved, and had by her another chUd named Richard. According to the English law, which does not recognise the legitimation by a subsequent marriage of the children born previous to wedlock — in which respect the English law differs widely from the Roman law, the French law, and even the Scotch law — Richard was the sole legiti mate child of the family, and consequently heir-at-law. Was William Roupell haunted from that moment by the idea that his father, at his death, would foUow the law of instincts and habits so much respected by the English, and leave the whole of his fortune to his legitimate son ? It is probable. Now, the matter at stake was not , a property of insignificant value — the fortune in question amounting to at least £200,000. WUliam Roupell yielded to the suggestions of the tempter, and resolved to baffle what he believed to be his father's intentions. It so happened that William Roupell, being a man of an enterprising character, of great shrewdness, and a thorough man of business, had early secured the 128 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. paternal confidence, which grew, indeed, blind to excess and almost unlimited. This is the use he made of it : he con frived to persuade his father to buy landed property, the titles of which he forged, and he appropriated to himself the money. Afterwards, under one pretext or another, he obtained possession of the title deeds of an estate at Kingston, copied them ; returned to his father, who did not look at them very closely, the copies instead of the originals, forged a deed of gift by which the ownership of the said property appeared to be made over to him, and, once provided with this deed, which was backed by the original titles remaining in his hands, he first of all mortgaged the estate and then sold it, making his father believe aU this time that it was let, and keeping him in this delusion by the regular receipt of the rent, which he took care to pay him. If the latter had devoted one minute's, only one minute's attention to his affairs, the fraud must have been detected ; but the father's confidence equaUed his son's audacity ; and this explains the mystery of the success which crowned such coarsely executed robberies. In September, 1856, RoupeU senior, feeling his end was at hand, begged his son to alter a will that he had afready made, so as to secure the future of the various members of the famUy in the revenue of a certain estate confided to trustees appointed ad hoc. This estate happened to be the very one which WiUiam RoupeU had fraudulently appropriated. He was seized with terror. The trustees would inevitably discover the fraud. How could it be otherwise? WiUiam RoupeU' had only one means of averting the danger, and that was by inducing his father to put off the intended alteration. He succeeded, and a few days afterwards the old man ceased to Uve. By the terms of the will, as it was originaUy dra'wn up, and as it had remained, the alteration desired by the father not ha-ving been made, the entire property belonged to Richard, the legitimate son. This wiU William Roupell contrived to steal, and he forged another, at the foot of which he affixed his own signature, and the counterfeited signature of an old dependant ninety years of age, as witnesses to the signature, admirably counterfeited, of his father. He then went to his mother and said : " My father, not wishing to proclaim in a public deed the Ulegitimacy of several of his children, thought it best to leave ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN AND THE ENGLISH LAW. 129 his entire fortune to yourself, confiding to your tenderness the duty of giving to each his fair share when the moment comes." This time, the fraud was well contrived. WiUiam RoupeU thereby turned aside aU suspicion from himself, and as he exercised supreme influence over the mind of his mother, he lost nothing in giving her the nominal possession of a fortune of which he perfectly knew he himself would have the real enjoyment. He had not even to fear the glance of the brother whom he was robbing, for tho latter was stUl a minor. It was thus he set himself to work to shine in the world. The rest I have related at the commencement of my letter. What is most extraordinary in this history is, that it had no other historian than its own hero. But see how strange the whole affair is. His very repentance proves a robbery. He robbed his own family by his forgeries, and by con fessing these, he robs those who had the misfortune to do business 'with him, under the impression he was an honest man. I coiUd draw many useful lessons from aU this, were I in a humour to moralise. Besides, there is no need for it. The teaching is but too clear. Mr. William Roupell got himself elected member of Parliament, because he had enough to pay handsomely for puffs and pots of ale. LETTER LXXXIV. ILLEGITIMATE CHILDEEN AND THE ENGLISH LAW. August 2ith, 1862. "Art. 331 ofthe CivU Code :— " Children bom out of wedlock, other than those born of an adulterous or incestuous intercourse, can be legitimated by the subsequent marriage of their father and mother, provided these shaU have acknowledged them before their marriage, or shaU acknowledge them in the very ^ed of celebration." "Art. 333 : ChUdren legitimated by the subsequent mar- 30 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. riage shaU have the same rights as if they were the issue of that marriage." What a pify it is that English legislation has not been inspired by the spirit which dictated these two articles of our Civil Code ! Had it beeij so, the whole town of London would not at this moment be taken up 'with the most lament able, and at the same time the most extraordinary incident ' that ever arose out of the position made for natural chUdren in this counfry. A few days ago a man in the prime of life, endowed 'with a quick inteUigence, 'who once possessed an immense fortune, who was received and welcomed in high social circles, who quite recently had a seat in the English ParUament, and who represented in it one of the most considerable electoral divi sions of the capital — this man was brought up at the GuUd- ford Assizes, without, it may be said, any other accuser than his own conscience, for his conscience alone led him there : — " I am a thief, I am a forger. I robbed my father during his Hfetime. I deceived him when he was on his death-bed. I stole his wiU, which I destroyed, and I made another hy counterfeiting. This counterfeit enabled me to mortgage lands that did not belong to me, and which I knew did not belong to me. To save my mother and brother from a ruin which is my work, this declaration is necessary, and I there fore make it. After the exhaustion of my resources, I had gained a sure refuge. Nothing compelled me to leave it, save the remorse which followed me there ; and here I am. I could have concealed my life from the world, if I could have concealed it from myself. That is why -I am here." Such, if not the language literaUy used by WiUiam RoupeU, is at least the sense of his words, combined 'with the signifi cance of the whoUy voluntary, whoUy spontaneous step, by which he placed himself within the reach of opprobrium and punishment. ,In the presence of a wonder-struck and excited audience, in the presence of his own brother, who gazed at and listened to him with painful anxiety, only a few paces from his mother, whose heart was a prey to a thousand tor tures, this unhappy 'wretch was there, detaUing the story of his crimes, concealing nothing, forgetting nothing, taking the same trouble to accuse himself that ordinary criminals ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN AND THE ENGLISH LAW. 131 take for their defence, fearing not to be beUeved on his word, invoking the sanctity of his oath, and struggling with a sort of frightfiU heroism against the agony of his own soul — an agony revealed from time to time, in spite of himself, by the convulsive pressure of his fingers on the front of the dock, by the contraction of his features, and by his long pauses, more fragic even than his confessions. In a few words the foUo'wing is the story of this trial — one worthy in many respects of being placed on the Ust of cele- ^brated trials. One Richard Palmer RoupeU, after amassing a very con siderable fortune, desfred to marry the woman of his choice. His family being opposed to the marriage, he adopted the alternative of li'nng with this woman in a state of iUicit inter course, and had by her several chUdren, among whom was WiUiam, the hero ' of this sad history. Subsequently, the obstacles which had prevented Palmer RoupeU's lawful union •with the woman he loved having disappeared, the marriage took place, and of that marriage was born a chUd named Richard. Now, according to the EngUsh law, aU the chUdren born before wedlock are reputed bastards ; they cannot be legi timated ; they are also as incapable of inheriting, happen what may, as if thefr father and mother never were married ; and if they have brothers born after the marriage, the latter alone are caUed upon to succeed, being alone recognised by law as legitimate. In this respect the EngUsh law has always been opposed both to the Roman CivU Law and to the Canon Law, both of which agree to declare legitimate, by the simple fact of the subsequent marriage of the parents, the chUdren born before wedlock. This provision was introduced into the CivU Law by Con stantine, and confirmed by Justinian ; it was introduced into the Canon Law by Alexander III. in 1160. The spirit which dictated it is the same that has prevaUed not only in France, but in Scotland. In England, on the contrary, the legitima tion of natural children has always been refused, notwith standing many efforts made to procure its admission. When in the ParUament of Merton, under Henry III., the formal proposition was made by the clergy, the imanimous answer of the earls and barons was, that they would not change the laws 132 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. of England : Quod nolunt leges Anglice mutare, quce hucusque usitata sunt et approbatm. Thus, the heir given to Palmer RoupeU by the law was Richard. In the case before us, terrible have been the con sequences of the principle ; and it is what no EngUsh paper has aUuded to, though therein lies the whole moral of the affair. WiUiam RoupeU happened to be a man of inteUi gence, of an active mind, and of a conscience devoid of scruples. In him were concentred the affections of his parents. But the special favour with which he was 'viewed in the famUy faiUng to satisfy him as to the results of the eventual death of his father, he conceived the idea of securing to himself a share by means of a forgery. He fabricated a deed of gift which transferred to himself the proprietorship of RoupeU Park, and he mortgaged this estate for the sum of £70,000. Let him speak for himself: — " A few days before his death my father said to me, in the presence of my mother : ' Come, I must put aside aU con siderations of delicacj', and decide upon what is to be done.' He then led me into his room." — (Here the witness's voice trembled ; he stopped, overcome by an emotion which he had tUl then made -visible efforts to subdue ; his- hand closed con vulsively, he bent do'wn his head, and was unable to resume until after a long pause). — " My father led me into his room, opened his bureau, took out his -wiU, to which a codicU was attached, and told me to write another from his dictation. He then informed me that he had at first thought of dividing, the property between my mother, my brothers, and my sisters; but that he had since reflected that the property would be in danger of being badly managed, and that, consequently, he had resolved, knowing my abUity as a man of business, to leave me the entire properfy, burdened with the condition that I shoiUd pay over -to the different members of the famUy, for the RoupeU Park estate, an annual rental of £3000. At these words I stopped him, pointing out to him that he was too feeble to occupy himself with such details ; that it was at that moment very late ; that the witnesses required to attest the wiU were not there, and that it was better not to alter the will. My motive for cutting him short was, that my father having chosen as the estate on' which the rental was to be secured the very one of which I had fraudiUently taken pos- ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN AND THE ENGLISH LAW. 133 session, the codicil would have brought about the discovery of the. forgery I had committed." The father died, and scarcely had he closed his eyes when WiUiam Roupell ran to the drawer in which the will was kept, and of which he had secreted the' key. He seized upon the deed, destroyed it, and fabricated another, to which he^ affixed his own signature and the signature, skilfully counter- - feited, of an old servant, after, of course, counterfeiting the signature of his father. By this forgery, he made the entire properfy pass into the hands of his mother, whom he knew to be blindly subjected to his influence, and. whom he would, have no difflculty in persuading to do whatever he pleased. He told her that his father had felt an invincible repugnance to estabUsh, in a public document, a distinction between such of his chUdren as were legitimate, and those who were not, and that for this reason he had decided upon leaving his fortune to herself, being quite sure that it would be easy hereafter to proceed to an equitable distribution without the world knowing anything about it. Matters being thus understood, WiUiam RoupeU disposed with a high hand, under his mother's name and through the ascendancy he exercised over her, of a fortune that did not belong to him. He heaped mortgages upon mortgages, sales upon sales, forgeries upon forgeries. And during aU that time he Uved in grand style, dazzled by his magnificence the district he inhabited, obtained the votes of the electors of Lambeth, and became in Parliament one of the representatives of London. Unfortunately, however large were the resources of which he disposed, they proved unequal to the reqidrements and foUies of a disorderly Ufe. It ended in an abyss opening beneath his feet. He was obliged to flee, obUged to hide himself; he disappeared. I have afready mentioned by what irresistible and- avenging' power he was tom from his asylum, and compelled to come and. denounce himself. It is impossible to imagine anything more strange than the frial at which were made the revelations of which I have laid before you a very abridged summary. On one side was a man who had purchased at an auction an estate offered for sale in consequence of a mortgage, and valued at £7000. On the other side was Richard RoupeU, who claimed ihis estate . as hefr-at-law to Palmer RoupeU, and asserted that neither 134 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. the mortgage, nor the sale, had been or coiUd have been vaUd. To enable the latter to gain his cause it was necessary that WiUiam, his own brother, should prove the forgery of which he had been guUty. And it was to establish the fact of this crime that aU the efforts of the criminal himself were exerted, whUe, on the contrary, the counsel for the bond fide purchaser exhausted aU the arts of his profession to cast doubts upon the veracity of the principal witness. To sum it up, the dialogue between WilUam RoupeU and the counsel for the party, opposed to his brother Richard, was to the foUowing purport : — "I am a forger." "How do you prove it?" "The proofs ? here they are." " It is not possible, for such and such reasons." " Not only is it possible, but it is so." " I do not belieye it." " I swear to it." In what other trial were the parts ever inverted in such'an extraordinary manner ? "What other case could be mentioned of a man displaying such an implacable eagerness to commit suicide ? But, you wUl ask, what has been the resiUt ? The result has been that a compromise was effected between V. Waite, the defendant, and Richard RoupeU, the plaintiff. I am wrong : that cannot be the end of it. The forgeries confessed by William Roupell are so numerous, so numerous are the transactions which his confessions render nuU and void, that it remains to be seen what wiU become of these fransactions, which amount to enormous sums, and endanger the rights of a crowd of interested persons. As for William RoupeU, he is in the hands of justice on a charge of forgery. His punishment is certain ; it wiU be terrible ; and he was aware of it when he came to confront it. Now, what are the social conclusions to be drawn from this hideous drama ? I cannot, for my part, help seeing in it the condemnation of the English, law touching the condition of natural children. No doubt WiUiam Roupell was of a perverse nature." The effect, however, that remorse produced upon his heart goes far to show that his disposition was not frrevocably corrupt, and might perhaps have escaped such deep stains in circumstances less abnormal, less calculated to germinate criminal thoughts. Forgery has been his way of protesting — a horrible and shameful protest — against the law, harsh to excess and apparently unjust, which had disinherited ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN AND THE ENGLISH LAW. 135 him. I wiU grant aU they can ask for to the moraUsts of tiie Times, when they insist that there are serious inconve niences and serious perils at the bottoin of every iUicit rela tion ; but I am sure tha:t this conclusion is not the only one suggested by the strange affair now under notice. I am a'w'are that the Athenians treated iUegitimate chUdren with extreme rigour ; that the laws of Solon refused them the privUeges of citizenship ; and that Pericles went so far as to order 5000 of them to be sold as slaves. But that appears to me simply abominable, and I cannot conceive that it can ever be just to punish a child for a fault committed by his father. And even at Athens the cruel law to which I have aUuded was too feeble to resist the influence of powerful citizens, when they were personaUy interested in setting it aside ; so much so, that Pericles himself did not scruple to make it give way in favour of the child he had by Aspasia. It is needless to remind you that among the Romans, the Goths, and the Franks, natural chUdren were aUowed to inherit their father's goods. And it certainly never entered the head of nations of the Latin race that bastardy was a disgrace. Did not the famous Dunois, in his letters, take the title of Batard d'Orleans ? Did the iUegitimacy of Henri de Transtamare prevent him from suc ceeding to the cro'wn of Spain ? . Did the Due de Vendome, the Due de Berwick, and Marshal de Saxe, three of the greatest captains of France, so fruitful in great captains, lose anything by being iUegitimate sons ? It is worthy of remark that those nobles of England who, in the ParUament of Merton, so haughtUy rejected the idea of the legitimation of natural children, per subsequens matri- monium, (^ated, after aU, at least to a . great degree, from the conquest of England by William, natural son of Robert I., Duke of Normandy, and of Arlette, whose father was a furrier of Falaise. Now, not only did WiUiam inherit the domains of Robert I., but he loved to style himself Willelmus, cogno- mento Batardus. Blackstone, in his Com.mentaries, declares the English law, so far as it concerns natural chUdren, very superior to the Roman law. With every respect for the memory of that learned man,, the arguments which he adduces in support of his -opinion, are worthless. He says, for example, that the right of legitimation is apt to divert people from the matei- 136 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. monial condition, to which one is attracted, he asserts, not only by the desire of having children, but by that of having lawftd heirs. Is it not easy to prove more satisfactorily the contraiy of -what he wishes to prove ? How was it that Blackstone did not perceive that, even from the point of view he takes up, legitimation by subsequent marriage creates for him who maintains an Ulicit intercourse an additional motive for escaping from it? The Scotch lawyers in this respect are far more logical than Blackstone. Strange to say ! The English law, opposed as it is to legitimation by subsequent marriage, is so sensible of the necessity of making aUowance for human weakness, and of gi-ving encouragement for the reparation of an error com mitted, that it admits, in certain cases, the legitimacy of a child born after wedlock, though evidently, certainly, incon testably, the fruit of iUicit intercourse. For example, a chUd is considered as legitimate if born the day after the marriage. Nay, the law declares legitimate the child bom three days after the marriage of a man who weds a woman with chUd by another man. These are conventional artifices which Ulus- frate the genius of the English people. Franco-GaUic logic could not accommodate itself to such contradictions and com promises. The French law starts from the principle, that it is unjust that a father should have no means of saving his chUdren, his innocent chUdren, from the punishment due to his own faults. LETTER LXXXV. ASPEOMONTE : EFPECT PEODUCED IN ENGLAND BY THIS NEWS. September ith, 1862. On Saturday evening I happened to be in a house in which were assembled Englishmen belonging to various shades of political opinion, when the door was suddenly opened, and a message announced as coming from Rothschild's house. This news feU in the midst of us like a thunderbolt: " Garibaldi is vanqidshed, wounded, and a prisoner." ASPROMONTE : EFFECT PRODUCED IN ENGLAND. 137 There was a moment of silence, but looks were expressive. Garibaldi faUing beneath a Piedmontese ball, after giving Italy to Piedmont ! Garibaldi treated as a rebel in the country which thriUs on merely hearing his name pronoimced, and through which he could not pass, only yesterday, without drawing all hearts after him ! Garibaldi dragged, covered with blood, to a fortress destined for criminals, and that in the name and by the orders of a prince on whom he had con ferred two kingdoms ! Before such a picture, who could faU. to be moved to the very bottom of his heart ? If you have read the article with which the Times was inspired by these disastrous events, do not suppose that that article expresses the sentiments of the English at large ; if you do, you calumniate them. The Times is thought to represent pubUc opinion in this country. Sometimes it does represent it, sometimes it makes it; but frequently, after having in vain attempted to guide it, the leading paper lays down its arms, denies on the morrow what it afflrmed on the day before, bums what it had worshipped, adores what it had burnt, and recovers, by the audacious humiUty of its sudden tergiversa tion, its empire for an instant in jeopardy. For the present the Times scandaUses with the flourish of its braying trumpets all who are afflicted by the mournful victory which Italy has gained against herself; but a few days hence, perhaps, when better instructed as to the real state of men's minds, the Times wiU wear mourning for the great warrior whose defeat it celebrates to-day. No, ,no : England has not so far divorced herself from aU sentiments of generosity and straightforward dealing as to "rejoice'' over the discomfiture of a man, the victim of a magnanimous error, who wUl remain the honour of his country and his age. Read the London papers, from the Daily News to the Morning Herald, from the Morning Adver tiser to the Morning Star, and you wiU see if the sentiment they reflect is one of " satisfaction." Never, I venture to afifrm, did a great people more keenly feel for the faU of a great man. - This people wiU never believe, after the manner of the Times, that Garibaldi out of pure heedlessness plunged his country into the horrors of civU war, solely because his opinion .differed on such or such a point from that of the prime minister. 138 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. One is reaUy amazed at the audacify -with which serious men thus try to diminish the importance of the question at issue, in order to falsify history. Garibaldi desires the unity of Italy, because he feels that if Italy be not one, she is nothing ; and he desires the unity of Italy for the Government against the Government, for the king against the king. What is reaUy new, unheard-of, and profoundly mournful in this tragedy is, that Garibaldi has been hunted doym, hemmed in, and laid low by those whose cause he had espoused with indefatigable heroism; by those for whose benefit he burned, to consum mate what he had commenced ; by those for the sake of whose power he had consented to sacrifice even the peaceful enjoy ment of a splendid reputation. For whom did he demand Rome ? Was it for himself ? As the Morning Star observes, he did not take up arms against his country, like Coriolanus ; he had no idea of unmaking a king whom he had made, like Warwick ; he was not pursuing an end of personal aggran disement, like WaUenstein ; he was not striving to recover a throne, like Murat. He has fallen, pierced by the hand of an Italian, for having wished to render a last ser'vice to Italy, to give her a supreme pledge of love ; and his crime, with regard to Victor Emmanuel, was the having wished to add to the crown which Victor Emmanuel owed to him, the jewel without which that cro'wn was in danger of becoming a derision. The English wiU be, I fancy, not sUghtly astonished when they read in the Times that, if Garibaldi had carried his point, his success would have been that of the power of the sword over a popular govemment; for, only a few days ago, the Times itself taught its readers that the immense strength of Garibaldi consisted, not in the power of the sword, but in a boundless popularify ; that the people opened out thefr arms to him on all sides, and welcomed him with trans port; that the gates of cities opened of themselves before him ; that pubUc functionaries sent in thefr resignation rather than impede his progress ; that officers had laid down thefr epaulets rather than be obliged to combat him; that the secret of his successful landing in Calabria was the connivance of the sailors commissioned to bar his way ; that he had needed no soldiers to render himself master of Sicily ; that he had needed no soldiers to make himself master in Naples ; •ASPROMONTE: EFFECT PRODUCED IN ENGLAND. 139 and that the people obeyed his voice as the waves of the sea obey the blast of the north wind. A strange military tyranny, in truth, is that which is announced by such symptoms and ' exercised by such means ! Meanwhile, what was the popular government doing that was menaced by this " tyranny ? " It was obliged to place its popularity under the protection of its cohorts ! It was proclaiming Sicily in a state of siege — such confidence had it in Sicilian sympathies ! It was proclaiming Naples in a state of siege — so sure was it of the sympathies of the Neapolitans ! AU this, be weU assured, is keenly felt in England. Thus, the sympathy awakened in this country by Garibaldi vanquished, wounded, and a prisoner, is ardent, and, I do not hesitate to afflrm, general ; so general, indeed, that, at the moment of my writing, public opinion, more sovereign in England than the Sovereign, has already compeUed the hostUe or wavering papers to recaU their judgment of yesterday. Nothing, for instance, is more surprising than the change suddenly exhibited in the language of the Daily Telegraph, under the evident pressure of the public. Needless to add that no one here thinks it possible that the life or Uberty of Garibaldi should be in the slightest danger ; and the Morning Star declares without any peri phrasis that, if the vanquished of Aspromonte set his foot on the soil of England, he woidd receive " a welcome which no foreign king could hope for from the English people." The character of the first impression received has, no doubt, been manifold. WhUe deploring the fate of an heroic man whose imprudence Ithey had blamed, many individuals have experienced an involuntary feeling of relief at the idea of the cbnl war being thus stifled in its cradle, at the removal of sinister complications, and at the absence of any excuse for the French Government to send froops to occupy the Neapoli tan provinces — for it was that which was feared above aU things in England, and it was because Garibaldi's enterprise seemed likely to create this danger that it met with a disap proval not less decided than respectful. But now, that there has been time to recover from the first shock, the aspect of affafrs, looked at dispassionately, gives confidence to no one. It is generally admitted that the Aspromonte incident resolves nothing, concludes nothing, and that the Roman 140 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. question remains absolutely what it was : a knot which the sword of Colonel PaUavicino has certainly not severed. Many even begin to fear lest Garibaldi's defeat should render the solution stiU more difficult by diminishing the popularity of Victor Emmanuel, by casting an odious gloss on the conduct of the Rattazzi Ministry, by causing the weight of the Piedmontese rule to be more and more felt in Sicily and Naples, by leaving henceforth face to face, without a conciliator, the Italian Government and the restless spirit of revolution. What force wiU henceforth replace for Victor Emmanuel the strength centred in the cry : Viva Vittorio Emmanuele ! uttered by such a man as Garibaldi ? And what power will there not be acquired over the mind of the masses by the language of those who, from the beginning, bade them distrust the interests of Piedmont ? This it is which harasses the njinds of those men in England who sincerely desfre an Italy independent, one and indi visible. And these have reason to feel uneasy, for the man who conquered at Aspromonte is — Mazzini. LETTER LXXXVI. GAEIBALDI VANQUISHED, BLAMED, AND ADMIEED. September Sth, 1862. Theee used to be in Paris, on the Boulevard Montmarfre, if I rightly remember, a weU known print-shop, .which pro bably still exists, the brilliant window of which was, in my time, a sort of magic lantern of public opinion. The favour ites of glory played there in effigy their part as shadows. Contemporary celebrities, as I weU remember, were placed in the post of honour until, after human vicissitudes had ban ished them to the second and third rank, they disappeared altogether. I have no doubt that the same thing has prevailed in aU countries. Trade has instincts which seldom lead it astray. GARIBALDI VANQUISHED, BLAMED, AND ADMIRED. 141 and when it appeals to purchasers, it is safe to refer to the poUtics of its staUs. WeU, in England, Garibaldi's defeat — a thing worth remarking — has left his portrait where his victo ries had placed it. Nay, the picture of the hero with the red shfrt has never more warmly enlisted the sympathies of the passer-by than at the present moment — a symptom as signi ficant as any other. In fact, in aU this history of the faU of Garibaldi there is something that goes straight to the heart. He, whom Italy, with a voice of deep emotion, proclaimed her saviour, is a captive at Spezzia. The fatal bay in which the English poet SheUey was drowned, has become the witness of a second and more famous shipwreck. But why speak here of shipwreck ? They do not faU who, when prosfrate on the ground, seem taller than when erect. They do not die, who enter upon immor- taUty through death. As for condemning such a man as a rebel and a traitor, that would be, from the Italian point of view and for the ItaUans, a thing so devoid of sense that, in England, the country of good sense, it is beforehand and unanimously declared impossible. Is there an Italian tribunal that could convict Garibaldi without convicting Italy, whom he has made what she is ? JFor, in point of fact, the impulse that sent him into Cedabria differs in no respect from that which led him to Palermo. When he wrested Sicily and Naples from Francis II. to give them to Victor Emmanuel, did he not invoke the same principle as he has done to-day ? Did he not hoist the same flag ? Did he not pursue the same end ? Had he not recourse to the same means ? The demand for the unity of Italy is either just or unjust. If it is just, how could Garibaldi have been guilty of anything worse than impatience or imprudence ? If it is unjust, how can Victor Emmanuel be held innocent ? Were the virtues which have iUustrated the name of the hero of Varese of the kind of which Montaigne speaks : " The passage of a river makes them a crime ? " If it be true that- the inviolabUity of estab Ushed governments is a principle superior to the right possessed by nations of belonging to themselves, M. Rattazzi, it must be confessed, has been in no hurry to make the disco very. But there is always room for repentance ; and we must hope that, as soon as Garibaldi has been condemned, M. 142 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. Rattazzi wUl advise the King of Piedmont to recognise the error of his ways, and to lay aside that crown of the King of Italy which he holds from a revolutionary adventurer ! The restitution of Naples and Sicily to Francis II. , the restitution of their capital cities to the archdukes, the restitution to the Pope of t'he provinces violently wrested from his states — aU this is implied by any sentence directed against Garibaldi. It would be the condemnation of Italy by Italy, and of Victor Emmanuel by himself. For the founder of Italian unity there cannot possibly be but one judge — the conscience of mankind ; one tribunal — posterify. If I am not mistaken, you yourself have afready pointed out these considerations. WeU, while you were saying aU this in France, everybody was insisting upon the same thing in England. And the unanimous sympathy of the EngUsh in favour of Garibaldi is the more remarkable, because his expedition has been generaUy blamed. Was this blame weU founded ? I think not. The conduct of the Italian hero would, certainly, have been destitute of common sense if he had had any expectation of being able, at the head of a handful of badly-armed young men, to overcome the Piedmontese troops ; to step across thefr dead bodies ; to enter Rome sword in hand, and to expel the con querors of Solferino. But everything demonstrates that he had no such projects. He 'wanted to stir up a powerful agita tion which might influence the deliberations of diplomacy in a manner favourable to the ItaUan people : nothing more. There are problems, the solution of which cannot be achieved without bold decision. Alexander was not counted among heroic fools for having conceived the idea of severing the Gordian knot. The electric shock experienced by aU Italy, merely on recognising the sound of Garibaldi's voice, is enough to cast at least some doubt on the, so noisUy de nounced, imprudence of his calculations. And assuredly if, when he crossed the straits which separated him from Naples, he recaUed to mind what marvels had thus far justified the temerity of his great heart, he must have felt he had the right to say to the pUot : " Fear nothing. You bear Garibaldi and his fortune." Whatever be the value of my opinion on this point, I must GARIBALDI VANQUISHED, BLAMED, AND ADMIRED. 143 confess that it is not that of anyone here. The English have only one voice to blame what, in their eyes, was inconsiderate in Garibaldi's enterprise. But that very circumstance makes it stUl more remarkable that they should admiringly proclaim the devotedness in which the enterprise took its rise. It is interesting to study the effect produced by Garibaldi's defeat on a people who pride themselves, above all, on being practi cal, and shrink from anything Uke sentimental considerations. Not to succeed is everywhere, alas ! a great crime, and under that head England is not entitled to claim any supe- riorify over other countries. The vulgar worship of success has here, as in France, numerous foUowers, all-powerful priests, loud-sounding pulpits. And yet Garibaldi, con queror at Aspromonte, would not have received more im passioned homage than has been addressed to his misfortune. A noble spectacle, that may serve as a consolation under many disappointments ! There is stUl another point of -view from which it is parti cularly important that France should regard the effect pro duced in England by the recent events in Italy. Up to the preSent time there has beenf here a numerous class of indi- •viduals in whose eyes the prolonged occupation of Rome found favour, because of the motives of pubUc order which they ascribed to that occupation. Though deeming it contrary to the rights of nations, to the interests of Europe, and more especiaUy to those of Italy, they excused it on the ground that the ItaUan Government was not yet firmly seated; that it had to. stand the spfrit of revolution, and might at any given moment be compeUed to receive its orders ; and that it was hazardous, in such circumstances, to abandon Rome, which would have been equivalent to lea^mig the Pope, quite unpro tected, at the mercy of revolutionary passions. Not that the fate of the Pope inspfred those who spoke in this manner with any very keen solicitude ; but thefr antipa thies, as Protestants, were tempered by their Conservative tendencies, and in any case they saw no decisive reasons for opposing with vehemence the poUcy of the French Govern ment in Italy. They themselves would not have taken the trouble to protect the Pope, but it appeared to them natural enough that a CathoUc power should think itself bound to do 60. 144 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. WeU, the French Government must no longer count upon those feelings, if it continue to maintain a garrison in Rome. In the eyes of the most moderate persons in this country, the question of the occupation of Rome has entirely changed its aspect since the affair of Aspromonte. Let another fortnight pass over, and those who advised the English people to have patience, will be the first to blow the fiame. Afready their language is such that, unless one strives to be wilfuUy bUnd, it is impossible to misunderstand its meaning or despise its tendency. Why, say they, should the French remain any longer in Rome ? If the object of the imperial policy was, as its organs have so often affirmed, to protect the Pope by standing between him and the revolution, that object no longer needs to be pursued. By taking up arms against the idol of the Italian nation, the Piedmontese Government has given a more than sufficient pledge of its intention to maintain order; and as for its power, it would be increased a hundredfold by the evacua tion of Rome. If anything were calculated to place the Piedmontese Government in danger, to change into a defeat its victory at Aspromonte, to deprive it of its popularity, and give it up, disarmed, to the vengeance of resuscitated demo cracy, it would precisely be the refusal to render unto Italy what Garibaldi caUed upon her imperiously to demand and the King of Piedmont promised as the reward of sustained moderation. If, then, the situation be prolonged, it wiU become evident that we have been deceived as to the real object of the occupation. All the serious and important organs of pubUc opinion express themselves in this manner. Thus far the Times and the Daily News, the Saturday Review and the Spectator, give one another the hand. On aU sides complaints are made, at the bottom of which I hear a menace. People begin to talk of the absolute necessity of at last claiming for the principle of non-intervention the respect which is due to it. They insist that Lord Palmerston ought to see to this, and they hope he •will do so. The matter deserves to be thought of. Is the prolonged occupation of Rome worth the sacrifice of the EngUsh alUance? That is the question. GARIBALDI VANQUISHED, BLAMED, AND ADMIRED. 145 LETTER LXXXVII. THE SAME SUBJECT. September 6th, 1862. The sympathy felt for Garibaldi, vanquished, wounded, and a prisoner, is as general as it is profound. At the first report of the disastrous event at Aspromonte, the Times hastened to utter the old war-cry, Vcb victis ! But pubUc opinion was not to be so easUy misled. As late as yesterday, in the eyes of that journal, Garibaldi was only a famous rebel, a criminal of imposing proportions; he had deUberately made a compact with civU war ; from hatred to a minister — wiU it be beUeved ? — ^he had dared to disobey his king ; his victory would have been the triumph of the demagogic element over the Constitution, and his defeat, which enabled the Turcarets of aU nations to breathe freely, ought to be a subject of pubUc congratulation. Thus spake the Times yesterday. To-day, how different is its language ! It is not far from proclaiming Garibaldi absolutely inviolable. It calls him by his true name, the founder of regenerated Italy. It is indignant at the bare idea of such a man having to appear before a judgment-seat. It affirms, almost with emotion, that there is not a nerve in the human frame that would not shudder at such a monstrous trial. It defines the crime of treason as an offence against whatever has received consecration from time, and is asto nished that any one can think of applying that word to an effort made to complete an unfinished revolution. Lastly, it represents the hero of Varese saying to the tribunal that blushed not to summon him before its bar : " On such a day I made Italy. Let us go and render^ thanks to Heaven ! " In fact, the circumstances which have led to Garibaldi's overthrow wear an air of heroic grandeur to which, in a country where thought is free, every conscience has been com-, peUed to render homage. The first article in the Times proved to be a note frightfuUy discordant in an immense concert, and, at this moment, the English are aU but imanimous in VOL. II. !¦ 146 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. expressing thefr admfration of that great Uon vanquished by a troop of foxes. For there is not a single point, even in the details of his defeat as they now begin to transpire, which does not bear witness to the treachery of his adversaries. I fancy you may not be quite aware of aU these detaUs, and yet they deserve to be known. Garibaldi had reached Aspromonte, aiming at Rome or death, but shunning civU war. A flag of truce is sent to him, and he, respecting the flag which speaks to him from afar of his king, his own comrade, and of peace, gives the word of command to halt. The bersaglieri avaiUng themselves of that fatal delaj', scale the heights, and the Garibaldians, unsuspicious of treason, find themselves hemmed in on aU sides. In the name of PaUavicino, his commander, the bearer of the flag had besought Garibaldi to delay the march of his foUowers, a request with which the latter joyfuUy complied, as it gave him the hope of avoiding the effusion of a single drop of Italian blood. But unhappUy that delay gave the bersag lieri aU the time that was needed to surround the hero. The deflle of Tiviolo, which the Garibaldians must have cleared in order to escape the cruel necessity of a fratricidal coUision, was occupied, quick as thought, by the royal troops. Then PaUavicino, forgetting that he had been the friend of Gari baldi and his pupU in the art of war, summoned the noble warrior to surrender — a summons that was an insult — and gave the signal for the attack. CivU war was thus let loose, not by the Italian hero, but by a servant of the crowned Ueutenant of Napoleon. Garibaldi, pro patrid non timidus mori, was struck by the first voUey, and immediately after wards received a bayonet thrust. He was wounded only in the leg — for what Italian would have dared to aim at his head or heart? — but he could not fight. His volunteers, nevertheless, stood ffrm. They had learnt how to sacrifice thefr lives — the bersaglieri had learned how to kiU. The latter were to the number of 1800, but an army of 18,000 spread over the neighbourhood assured them decisive support. If this narrative be true, the promotion so speedily conferred Upon Palla^sdcino is, on the escutcheon of the house of Savoy, a stain like that upon the hand of Macbeth: aU the waters of the sea wUl never wash' it out. And our own indignation is increased twofold when we GARIBALDI VANQUISHED, BLAMED, AND ADMIRED. 147 reflect that if Garibaldi did take up arms it was, after all, with a view to add to the power of that prince whom he had already made so powerful ; to emancipate him from the inso lent protection of a foreign despot ; to make him free upon the throne on which he had placed him ; to reaUse the con- eluding words of the programme which he drew up as his dying testament at the moment of carrying out his supreme resolution : " Long live Italy ! Long live Victor Emmanuel at the Capitol ! " Garibaldi treated as an enemy, proclaimed a rebel, hemmed in, betrayed, struck down, imprisoned, con demned, in the name and by the command of Victor Emmanuel, for having striven, after bestowing upon him two kingdoms, to crovm him on the Capitol, is one of those instances of in gratitude which not even Shakespeare could have foreseen when he wrote King Lear, But if, in this affafr, all is odious on the one side, how subUme is it aU on the other side ! Garibaldi had success fuUy achieved an enterprise which made him the equal of the greatest figures in history. He had needed no more than the prestige of his 'virtue to wrest SicUy from Francis II. He had entered Naples in an open carriage, almost alone, a whole army fleeing before him ; more powerful than Warwick, the maker of kings, he had created a nation ; his services were so great that no recompense could be devised capable of mea suring them ; he was the idol of his own country ; the entire world loved and admired him; since his retirement to Caprera, Cincinnatus was no more thought of, and what Chateaubriand said of Napoleon at St. Helena, might have been applied with stUl greater reason to Garibaldi on his rock : he was seen there from every part of the earth. What was there left for him to desfre ? What could be imagined capable of tempting his ambition from a personal point of 'view, even supposing that a selfish ambition could have reached to a soul so lofty ? Besides, he had need of repose. The hardships of warfare had exhausted his strength. The fact of his health being seriously impafred warned him to bear in mind that the vexations of his Ufe counted as so many years. It seemed that he had nothing more to do than to slumber peacefully amid his glory. But . no : the idea of duty was wakeful in him. Observing that his work was incomplete ; that the approaches to the throne raised by his hands were poUuted with infrigue ; that Venice L 2 148 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. was in danger of being for ever occupied by the Ausfrians ; that Rome continued to be patrolled by French troops ; that the government of Turin, under Rattazzi, was inore com pletely submissive to the influence of the Tuileries than the Archdukes had ever been to the influence of Vienna ; that torrents of blood had been shed and mountains of gold sunk, ¦without other result for his country than the substitution of one yoke for another ; and that Italy, exhausted by looking for a denouement that seemed no nearer, was likely to die of the slow poison of diplomacy, Garibaldi felt that all was not yet over with him while so much stUl remained to he done for his country. Taking, therefore, the magnanimous resolution to sacriflce to the deflnitive emancipation of the Italians, not only his life, but, if it were necessary, his glory also, he rose up in arms. Read history through as often as you please, you wiU find in no other country, in no other age, another example of such sublime devotedness. LETTER LXXXVIII. THE SAME SUBJECT. September 7th, 1862. In the ' preceding letter I attempted to bring out in rehef the truly sublime character of Garibaldi's last exploit. This side of his conduct has escaped no one here ; but what, to my great surprise, seems to have escaped everyone, both here and elsewhere, is, that his conduct was not less inteUigent than heroic. ^ From the Times to the Morning Advertiser, from the Standard to the Morning Star, fromi the Saturday Review to the 'Weekly Dispatch, there is not a single EngUsh journal that has not declared Garibaldi's enterprise to have 'been foolish ; not one that has not declared success to have been impossible; not one that has not set forth, with a shudder, the dangers it brought down upon Italy, and lamented that in Garibaldi's case a sounder judgment had not directed the inspirations of a heart so magnanimous. GARIBALDI VANQUISHED, BLAMED, AND ADMIRED. 149 For my part, I confess that I cannot subscribe to the decrees of a sagacity which appears to me to be not less false than -vulgar. There is a great policy and a Uttle policy, a great and a Uttle prudence. WeU, even after Garibaldi's defeat — nay, especiaUy after his defeat — it strikes me how profound a calculation coiUd spring forth from the mere impulses of an upright soul. In what did Garibaldi's plan consist ? Had he any inten tion of measuring himself, at the head of a handful of enthu siastic young men, with the troops of the king of Piedmont, and, after passing over their dead bodies, of hastening to attack the French in Rome, for the good of Italy, though without her consent ? No. "What Garibaldi desfred to do was to create, from one end of Italy to the other, a powerful agitation which, by transferring the question from the dark some laboratory of Foreign Offices to the public streets, would baffle the manoeuvres of diplomacy, constrain the dynastic interest of the House of Savoy, either to mingle with that of the people, or to unmask themselves, and force the imperial policy into a dilemma calculated to work out the problem of the freedom of Rome. He had no idea of con quest ; his object was to compel the enemies of his country and thefr accompUces, either to give way before the dread of a coUision, or, if they preferred to confront him in arms, to gain a 'victory which would be for ever to be deplored by them. What would have happened, in fact, if Garibaldi, according to his plan — and I shaU presently show that there was nothing chimerical in this plan — had succeeded in reaching the waUs of Rome ? The state of habitual feverishness of the inhabit ants of the Eternal City, the secret but indisputable and ter rible agitation that is at work there, the impatience with which the hour of deliverance is expected, the thousand symp toms which attest it, the mingled feeling of love and venera tion entertained for the Liberator by the hardy race of the Transteverini, aU combine to make it certain that at the first tidings of Garibaldi's arrival Rome would have sprung to its feet. Under these circumstances, was it a part of Gari baldi's plot to march upon the French with fixed bayonets, with defiance on the Ups and menace in the eye ? to fling himself at aU hazards against the savage susceptibihties of men of the sword ? to inflame the courage of the conquerors of Solferino 150 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. by the gravity of the danger, in placing them between an insurrection and a battle ? Nothing of the kind. Was he not himself careful to announce his wishes to the world ? It was not as an enemy of France that he proposed to present himself* far from it. In the terms of his o-wn. declaration, he would have walked up to the French, his sword sheathed and his arms stretched forth, invoking the sanctity of a right impossible to be gainsaid, reminding them of their recent brotherhood in arms, caUing upon the liberators of Italy not to soU their glory, placing them, in short, under the alterna tive, either of listening to the voice of an entire people impa tient to belong only to itself, or of replying by a massacre to the appeal of a great nation and of a great soul. What would the French have done under circumstances so truly epic ? Garibaldi, we may be sure, knew as weU as any one what a soldier is capable of doing under the blind and harsh law of discipline, but he also knew that the human conscience does not altogether perish beneath the uniform, and that two Revolutions were accomplished in France, because tjie soldiers, suddenly enveloped in an atmosphere that entirely changed, as it were, thefr moral respiration, felt their arms faU from their hands. It was, not, however, unreasonable to foresee the contin gency that such an expectation might be disappointed. But even then, the worst that could befal Garibaldi would be to die the death of a martyr, in the accompUshment of the most subUme action ever inspired by the love of one's cpuntry combined with the spirit of duty. For his adversaries, on the contrary, the consequences would have been dreadful. What a cry of horror would not Europe have uttered ! With what implac able hatred would not every Italian heart have been pene trated ! Now, to prevent these consequences, there was 'only the alternative of evacuating Rome, or of barring the road to Garibaldi. And if we consider that the former course was the only one conformable to principles, the only one of a nature to calm the disquietude of Europe and to put an end to' the agony of Italy, the only one capable of preventing compUca- tions the result of which would have been incalcidable, Garibaldi may assuredly be excused for having supposed that that alone would be adopted. GARIBALDI VANQUISHED, BLAMED, AND ADMIRED. 151 As for the other hjrpothesis, how could it have checked the hero of Varese ? Was it to be imagined that Victor Emma nuel would exhaust his strength, would cast to the -winds his popularify, would compromise his honour, without any other object in 'view than to combat the most faithful of his servants at the command of a foreign Govemment ? That Implied such a mixture of ingratitude and baseness that many persons believed, until the truth was revealed at Aspromonte, that Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel were acting in concert ! And, on the other hand, might not the conqueror of the King of Naples, the Uberator of SicUy, the man who so thoroughly possessed the secret of successful adventure, the heroic gambler whose audacity Fortune had so often served and cro'vvned, might not Guiseppe Garibaldi believe, without foUy, in his own abiUty to make his way to Rome in spite of Rattazzi ? Let it not be said that he presumed too much on his own influence. His self-reliance was perfectly justified by the wonderful result of his pre^vious adventures. At his voice did not all Italy start as at the voice of a prophet? Did not Sicily become his as soon as she saw him ? Was he not received in triumph at Catania ? Did not volunteers flock to his banner from all quarters, eagerly staking on that great match aU that was dearest to them in this world? Did not the crews of the ships commissioned to stop his passage across to Calabria aUow him to pass, in spite of the orders of the Government ? Was it not notorious that many pubUc func tionaries had sent in their resignations, and that many officers had torn off thefr epaulettes, rather than combat Italy in his person? He was alone, or nearly so, when he set foot on Nea- poUtan soil, and the nation was so thoroughly with him, and in him, that the Government had to recur to the measures cus tomary •with tyrannies in the hour of danger — cities and pro^vinces declared in a state of siege, the liberty of the press suspended, the Uberty of the person violated, a system of terror established in every dfrection. It is true that the hero has succumbed in a skfrmish, and the wiseacres glory over it. They would have had quite as good reason to boast of their sagacity and foresight if Garibaldi, instead of being sfruck by a baU fired by a sacrilegious hand, had faUen from his horse ! Since when has history permitted an accident to sit as umpfre over the merit of vast combinations ? The cannon that kiUed 152 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. Turenne, that cannon " loaded from aU eternity," no doubt disconcerted the plans of that great man ; but what conclusion against his genius is to be drawn from that ? But possibly it may yet be seen that Garibaldi's defeat •wUl be found in the end to have been of the highest service to his cause. Let those •who question this, read all the Uberal joiirnals of France and every journal in England,^ and they will see that the disaster of Aspromonte is presented as an incident which henceforth converts the evacuation of Rome into an absolute necessity. Napoleon may yet use delays, but he can do nothing but delay. Rome is the debt the payment of which Victor Emmanuel is now entitled to demand, as a compensa tion for the sacrifice of his friend, and for compromising his own honour. Yes, the time will come, thanks to Garibaldi, when the French wiU be compelled to leave Rome to herself, that is, to Italy. On that day Garibaldi wiU have received the only recompense that is worthy of him, and the only one to which he ever aspired. The restitution of Rome wiU be his glory ; and history will say that Garibaldi, after having given to the King of Piedmont SicUy and Naples as the fruits of his 'victories, gave him Rome as the fruits of his defeat. LETTER LXXXIX. A EEMAEKABLE TEIAL. September 2tth, 1862. Anothee remarkable trial ! Another terrible mystery to fathom after the judge has pronounced sentence, and before the hangman plays his part I Another tragical proof of the uncertainfy of human judgments ! Another decisive argu ment against capital punishment ! A crime has been committed at Glasgow : by whom was it committed ? By one of two persons : the choice lies between a woman and an old man. The jury have unanimously made their choice. , If, through the darkness which enshrouds this crime no new Ught shine forth, it .is the woman who wUl die. A REMARKABLE TRIAL. 153 But pubUc opinion, far less unanimous than the Glasgow jury, is deeply moved and excited, murmurs against this verdict, and insists upon its right to intervene. The probabilities on one side and those on the other balance each other with a precision horribly mathematical. The pros and the cons cancel one another so completely, the balance in which have been weighed the lives of this woman and of this old man has held itself thus far with an equipoise so terrible, that many tremble lest the innocent should suffer and society avenge one assassination by another. This at least is certain : the city of Glasgow, nay, aU Scotland, is in such a state of ferment as wotUd hardly have been produced by a great national event. And why not ? Is the fact of a town taken by assault, or that of a battle lost, or that of a kingdom changing its masters, equal in importance to the danger which the death of one innocent person may bring upon all mankind ? For it is reaUy all mankind, it is our common humanity in all its greatness, which is represented and personified by every individual who suffers from [an unjust act, however humble, however obscure that indi'vidual may be. AUow me then to relate this doleful tale to your readers. The subject is one which wUl afford matter, not for curiosity, but for meditation. On Friday, the 7th of July, an inhabitant of Glasgow, named Fleming, set out •with his famUy for a country house, leaving behind him only his father, an old man, eighty-seven years of age, and a woman servant, Jessie Macpherson. On Friday night, towards four o'clock in the morning, the old man, if he is to be beUeved, heard shrieks as of a woman being murdered. But these shrieks soon ceasing, he thought no more about it. In the morning, at twenty minutes before eight, the front-door beU rang. It was the milkman going his usual round. The old man went down stairs, opened the door, which was fastened inside by a padlock, said that he would not take any mUk that day, and, closing the door, went over the house according to his daily custom. For he was a man of an inqui sitive character, fond of going to and fro, and who liked to see everything for himself. He could not find the servant — she had disappeared. How could she have gone out ? The front door, as already remarked, was fastened within by a padlock. The back-door, according to Mr. Fleming's subsequent asser- 154 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. tions, was at that moment fastened, and from the inside like the other. Fastened also was the door of the servant's bed room. The kitchen-floor was damp. Some of Mr. Fleming's shfrts happened to be there, spotted -with blood. He put them aside, i Three days elapsed. The servant did not reappear, but the old man did not trouble himself about her. Neither did he make any communications to his neighbours, with whom he was generally wont to converse freely enough. He prepared his O'wn meals, and made his arrangements to wait upon himself. On the Monday, the son arrived, and he, on being informed of the mysterious disappearance of Jessie Macpherson, opened the door of her bed-chamber by means of a second key. A fright ful spectacle then presented itself. The dead body of the servant, horribfy mutilated, was sfretched in front of the bed, the head turned towards the door. There were wounds on the face, and others on the head. The former, according to the subsequent testimony of the medical men, had been carefuUy washed ; but not so the latter, which, being deeper, had pro bably been the cause of death and the completion of the crime. Thus, the flrst glance at the corpse told, or seemed to teU, that the victim had been flrst struck, then attended to, but after wards struck again with redoubled fury untU death ensued. Had there been at the scene of assassination two agents, moved by opposite impulses, the one prompt to succour, the other bent upon murder? So the corpse seemed, to say. The house was carefuUy searched, and it was discovered that property belonging to the deceased had been carried off, as weU as plate. The police were caUed in ; aU the neighbourhood flocked to the spot ; and suspicions being naturally directed against the elder Fleming, who had remained three days shut up in his house with a corpse, he was arrested. Shortly afterwards, the steps taken by the police led to the discovery of the plate stolen on the night of the 7th July. It had been pledged at a pawnbroker's by a woman named MacLachlan, who was known to have been the friend of the murdered servant girl. The inquiry was actively pursued, and it was soon ascertained that on Friday, the 7th July, Mistress MacLachlan, on leaving her house, had said that she was going to see Jessie Macpherson, with whom she pas.sed the night of the 7th, not returning to her own home tUl nine A REMARKABLE TRIAL. 155 o'clock on the morning of the 8th. In the next place, it was proved that when she returned home she wore a dress 'which nobody had ever before seen her with, and which she lost no time in sending to a dyer's. Nor is that aU. That same day she paid her rent, redeemed several articles which her extreme destitution had compeUed her to pawn, and made several purchases. Lastly, and conclusively, there were found in a field in which she had been noticed, fragments of clothes stained with blood, which were identifled as having belonged, some to the deceased, and the rest to herself. This was more than enough to justify her being accused. From that moment suspicions were turned aside from the aged Fleming and directed against her ; and she was arrested. In the examination which she had to undergo in private before the magistrate, — which examination precedes, in Soot- land, the committal of an accused person, she explained in a very unsatisfactory manner the various circumstances that had risen up against her. The plate, she said, she had received from old Fleming, who had desired her to pa'wn it, giving her for her trouble £4 sterUng. As for the clothes of the deceased which were found in her possession, they had been sent to her by Jessie Macpherson herself to be mended, and she had only endeavoured to get rid of them because, on hearing of the murder, she had naturaUy felt herself compromised by the mere fact of being thefr depository. Ridiculous line of defence ! What jury could have been satisfied with it ? The one on whose decision Mistress MacLachlan's Ufe depended, did not hesitate to pronounce against her. But sentence of death was not yet delivered when an extra ordinary incident aU at once changed the aspect of the case. It turned out that the declarations made by the accused were not in reality her own. They had been suggested to her by her counsel. They constituted a line of defence which had in some measure been imposed upon her. Her own account of the matter, the spontaneous account which she gave previous to the trial, and without knowing anjrthing of the circum stances which were then brought to light, was that, on the night of the 7th July, Fleming, senior, being in the kitchen with herself and Jessie Macpherson, had made indecent over tures to the latter ; that these overtures had been repeUed with rudeness ; that the old man, who was stUl hearty and vigorous, 156 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. had flown into a great rage ; that a violent quarrel had ensued between him and the servant ; and that, taking advantage of her (Mistress MacLachlan's) temporary absence, Fleming had repeatedly struck the unfortunate Jessie with a sharp instru ment, i'he accused asserted that, on her return, she had hastened to assist the deceased. She had .washed her face. She had offered to go in aU haste for surgical aid. But then, according to the same statement, the old man, terrified, dis tracted, and out of his mind, had finished off his victim, in order to put an en'd to all idea of calling in a doctor, and had said to the involuntary witness of these horrors : "If you reveal this secret, you are lost without remedy. What has happened has been seen by nobody but you and myself. Think of your social position, and think of mine. If I affirm that it was you who kiUed this woman, I shaU be beUeved ; but who would believe you if you dared to point me out as the murderer ? Your only safety is in sUence. Take away these things, take away this plate, so that the cause of the murder may be atfri- buted to a robbery. You have a husband, you have an infant in the cradle, you are in misery : this wiU help you to Uve, and we shaU both of us be sa-ved." This version, given by the accused voluntarily and off-hand, is not in itself absolutely devoid of probability, when we reflect that it is the only one which renders inteUigible several cfr cumstances otherwise impossible to explain. If, in fact, it was Fleming who committed the crime, it is conceivable that he may have wished to conceal the result as long as possible, to give MacLachlan time to remove aU traces of it. This sup position is, moreover, the only one which agrees with the appearance presented by the dead body. Between the first and the last blows inflicted on the deceased, who washed her face ? Who endeavoured to dress the wounds ? Was it pos sible that the same hand could have administered aid and consummated the murder ? Immediately afterwards, the kitchen had been cleaned and set to rights; the body had been dragged from the kitchen to the bedroom ; the insteu- ment of death had been washed ; the blankets stained with blood had been carefully turned down ; how is it to be under stood that, if MacLachlan were guilty, she could have passed her time in doing aU that ? And for what object ? How can we understand that, instead of avaiUng herself of the A REMARKABLE TRIAL. 157 darkness of night to cover her flight, she should have waited tiU dayUght ? How could she have got out of the house before twenty minutes to eight without the old man's con nivance, since at that time both the doors by which she could have escaped were fastened from within ? A very striking passage in the statement made by the accused is this : " After Mr. Fleming had opened the door to the man who brought the milk, he came back without anything in hiiS hand, having refused to buy any milk that day." How is it possible that M'Lachlan could have guessed such a fact ? She must, there fore, have been in the house when the milkman rang the beU ; and if she was in the house at that hour, what are we to con clude ? It is worthy of remark that there is not one of the circumstances revealed by the trial which does not harmonise ¦with the assertions contained in the account given by the accused previous to the trial. But, on the other hand, is it probable that, an old man of eighty-seven, however hale he might be, would be led on to a murder by the motives aUeged by MacLachlan ? If it be frue that at four o'clock in the morning of the 8th he heard the cries of a person in distress without taking any trouble about it ; if it be true that he remained three days 'without appearing to notice the absence of the servant-maid, might not such conduct be ascribed to that apathy which is one of the characteristic teaits of old age ? Supposing the murder to have been committed by MacLach lan, her remaining such an absurdly long time on the spot that witnessed her crime requires to be accounted for. It is also necessary to account for the care she took in effacing aU fraces .of it in the house itself, without being driven to do so for her own sake, and at the risk of being discovered. Another singular circumstance Ukewise needs explanation, and that is the two doors being, both of them, secured inside at a quarter before eight in the morning, at wiiich hour the old man was up and had already gone through the house. And yet how much presumptive evidence was there against MacLachlan ! Fleming was in no want of money, whereas she was in great distress. Before going to see Jessie Macpherson, she had announced her intended visit to her neighbours, which excludes the idea of premeditated murder, though it does not absolutely exclude that of a murder committed imder a strong tempta- 158 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. tion. After all, it was she who wore the garments of the deceased. It was she who benefited by the sale of the silver. It was she who was condemned by the maxim Fecit cui prodest. " Devine si tu peux, et choiais si tu I'oses." . In any case pubUc opinion is di-vided. If there are some who beUeve in the guilt of the accused, there are others who violently attack Lord Deas for having asserted, whUe pro nouncing sentence of death, that MacLachlan's statement was a tissue of falsehoods. Some even go so far as to reproach the judge with having aUowed himself to be carried away by his desire to save the aged Fleming. They remark that not a single witness was caUed to speak to the character and habits of that old man, henceforth so mournfuUy famous. They express thefr astonishment that none of the house ser vants were examined as to his demeanour towards themselves, and towards the murdered woman. They seem to say, like Montaigne: "However good may be a judge's intentions, if he does not keep a close watch upon himself, which few persons trouble themselves to do, a bias to friendship, to kindred, to beauty, to revenge, and not only such weighty matters as these, but even "that fortuitous instinct which makes us like one thing better than another — may turn -the scale." Such being the case, is it possible that a rope should be fastened round the neck of this woman ? Is it possible that a punishment should be infiicted which is irreparable, when at this very moment people are crowding from all parts to sign a petition begging for further investigation- — which is equivalent to calUng in question the infallibility of the judge ! « Will the investigation thus demanded be granted ? WiU ' something unexpected yet clear away the darkness of this drama ? In the meantime- — and I wish particularly to draw your attention to this — the verdict of the jury, the conduct of the judge, his summing-up and final sentence, are freely examined, commented upon and analysed by the press. In France, we fancy that justice would cease to be • respected on the day that its final awards became matter for discussion. The EngUsh have a far more exalted idea of the majesty of justice, and of the tutelary power of freedom. They do not hold the opinion that a power becomes infaUible A BATTLE IN HYDE PARK. 159 simply because it is proclaimed unamenable to discussion. They do not beUeve that it is good to place above aU control an authority upon which depends the fortune of every citizen — ay, more than his fortune, his life — more than his life, his honour ! Thefr Constitution ranks among the preroga tives of the Crown the prerogative of pardon ; but they have felt that the exercise of that prerogative, if it is to be some thing better than a despotic caprice or fancy, requires to be raUightened and sanctioned by public opinion. They have, consequently, reserved to themselves the faculty of pointing out, for the exercise of that right, the judgments that ought to be revised or set aside. Are they wrong in doing so ? Ah ! it would be difficult to imagine anything more useful, or more noble than the power of the press extended to the examina tion of judicial decisions. It is applying the sovereignty of the people to the discovery of truth. It is placing innocence under the protection of universal suffrage. It is the entire nation aiding royalty to make a good use of the most majestic, the most august prerogative, that of commissioning Mercy to rectify the errors of Justice. LETTER XC. A BATTLE IN HYDE PAEK. October Sth, 1862, I e:^side a few steps from Hyde Park, whence I have just returned. What a sad, what a disgusting spectacle ! "What an odious battle ! In that immense park, — usuaUy intended for peaceable promenaders, and which, even at the season when life is overflowing in the capital, is animated only by brUliant cavalcades and the innocent rivafry of dashing equipages, — scenes have been enacted this day which make one shudder. Imagine weU nigh 90,000 men gathered together and aU terribly excited ; furious encounters ; hand to hand combats ; heads broken by cudgels ; terrified groups of runaways rushing against One another; women knocked do'wn and trampled under foot; morning coats, soldiers'- 160 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. uniforms, working men's jackets, paupers' rags, all mingled together, all swept away in the same whirlwind ; and by the side of individuals half murdered for having shouted, "Garibaldi for ever!" other individuals half murdered for having shouted, " The Pope for ever ! " Such were the scenes presented to view in Hyde Park, barely an hour ago. And why ? Because, probably, our so much boasted civilisation has not yet done with the demon of religious wars ; because the number of idiots who deem it a holy work to cut their neighbours' throats for the glory of God, is still very considerable ; because brutality is the child of ignorance, and because ignorance belongs to the brood of superstition ; because the Papacy is represented in London by a mob of brutalised Irishmen, who even in the dens where the scum of the population boils over, form the scum of that scum; lastly — and this is at once the most important and the most melancholy reason — because it depends upon one soUtary man in Europe to keep minds in suspense, to prolong indefinitely the uneasiness that arises from a situation where aU is dark ness, to change through impatience this feeling of uneasiness into fury, and to make the protracted occupation of Rome a source of agitation for the whole world. Even on Sunday last the black speck that ushers the storm was seen in Hyde Park. An orderly meeting of English workmen, who had assembled to express aloud their sympathies for the hero of Aspromonte, was furiously assaUed by a host of ragged Irishmen, armed with hea-vy bludgeons. Blows were exchanged, much passion was displayed, and many wounds inflicted. This was the prelude. Sinister reports had also been in circulation the whole week. A more serious engagement was announced. That efforts were made to prevent it is certain, but men's minds were greatly irritated by the rumour spread among the working classes, that the Irish had boasted in their own haunts, that they cotdd prevent by force the manifestation of sympathies contrary to thefr o-wn. Instead, therefore, of assembling to-day in Hyde Park to the number of flve or six thousand only, as on Sunday last, the EngUsh workmen had gathered together to the number of forty or fifty thousand, without reckoning those who were drawn thither by curiosity. On their side, the Papists had counted up thefr forces, had provided themselves A BATTLE IN HYDE PARK. 161 with weapons, and held themselves in readiness. Who was it who had marshalled this host ? They certainly appear to have acted in conformify with some previous system of organisation. In serried ranks, shoulder to shoulder, after the manner of a regiment on the march, they proceeded to the spot to which confusion and sfrife accompanied them. A mound formed of rubbish, which, on the previous Simday, had served as a platform for the orators of the meeting, and afterwards as a field of battle, was the point towards which, this day also, the steps of the assaUants were dfrected. It was thither chiefly that the "defenders of reUgion " hastened to uphold thefr cause -with sticks, stones, and fisticuffe ; and there, more than elsewhere, bones were broken and faces covered with blood. Never was a citadel attacked -with greater impetuosity, or defended with greater obstinacy. Never was a strategic position more frequently taken and retaken. It seemed as if the fortune of pontifical Rome was attached to the possession of that heap of rubbish, to which, doubtless with a view to render it historical, has been given the name of Redan ! MUitary honour happening thus to be interested in the affair; soldiers of the Guards regiments joined in the mil^e, and took part in the assault amid the enthusiastic acclamations of the people. Needless to add, that numerous detachments of the poUce were dispatched to the scene of disorder, where they exhibited great intrepidify and self- possession. But thefr interference avaUed not to prevent bloodshed. It is said that some Uves were lost. A large number of persons were conveyed to the hospitals in a con dition that causes serious apprehensions as to thefr lUtimate recovery. At least, so I heard whUe returning to my home, after having witnessed the riot from a spot sufficiently distant to avoid any chance of being mixed up in it. If it be true that Cardinal Wiseman's carriage was seen driving through the Park, his Eminence, as weU as every inteUigent Catholic, must have deplored the mode in which the Church was being upheld. The English workmen. Garibaldi's partisans, would no doubt have acted wisely if they had abstained from this open- afr meeting, especiaUy since it was almost certain that a savage conflict would be the consequence ; but, after aU, they 162 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. -were in the right. Not only are open-air meetings authorised in England, but it may even be said that they form an essential part of public life. There is not a park here, not a pubUc garden, no large open space, where you do not, on Sundays, find groups gathered around some weU-meaning preacher, who, mounted on a chair, explains the Bible to the passers-by, and preaches to them religion after his own views. It is a relic of the practices engendered by the spirit of the Reformation. " Every man is a priest," said Luther. Room, therefore, for whosoever deems himself capable of preaching, and room for whosoever feels any curiosity to hear him preach ! If the Irish had desired to oppose manifestation to manifestation, nothing prevented them from doing for the Pope what the EngUsh workmen had resolved to do for Garibaldi. There would have been no want of room in Hyde Park. They could there have erected, to thefr cwn satis faction, altar against altar. No one, assuredly, in this free country, would have quarreUed with them had they voted the martyr's palm to the Pope, or to Napoleon the title of Saviour of ReUgion — of religion placed by him, as aU know, under the edifying protection of his bayonets. They could even have asserted, without any one thinking for a moment of stopping their mouths, that the States of the Church are the best governed on the face of the earth. But no : to these wretched slaves of a gross fanaticism it seemed far more simple to refute -with their bludgeons the arguments of those who differ in opinion from themselves. Is it their fault ? I deny it. The real culprits are those who, exercising over this ignorant mob an unbounded influence, inflame their passions instead of enlightening their minds. Is it necessary to point out what wiU be the effect produced in England by this deplorable event? The cause of the papacy wUl certainly not be promoted, in a Protestant coimfry, by savage onslaughts and attempts at murder. Fisticuffs are scarcely an apostoUc arg-ument. At all events, it is not one of those which were most in favour with the early Christians. They knew how to die, but did not know how to slay ; and that constituted their strength. Had the Catholic gladiators of Hyde Park sought to promote the interests of Protestantism, they could not possibly have acted better than they did. AN EVENTUAL MARRIACfe, AND MR. URQUHART. 163 Another result to be foreseen, is a two-fold increase of irritation as regards the occupation of Rome. For to that question — of which the etemally-looked-for solution is etemaUy postponed— must be referred the disturbances which have just taken place. LETTER XCL AN EVENTUAL JIAEEIAGE, AND ME. UEQUHAET. October 16th, 1862. You are aware that the Prince of Wales is of an age to marry, and that he is about to attempt this "high emprise," for which the Uvely wit of Rabelais found so many pros and cons. Some weeks ago it was solemnly announced to England that there were tw^o candidates for the hand of the Prince of Wales, namely : the Princess Alexandrina of Prussia, and the Princess Alexandra of Denmark. The former, it was said, was supported by Queen Victoria, and the latter by the King of the Belgians, who was declared to be most likely to gain his point. The affair has now ceased to appear doubtful, and the star of the Princess Alexandrina has decidedly paled before that of the Princess Alexandra. Now, in a certain small circle in which people pique them selves on knowing the history of human affairs as they occur behind the scenes, I have heard remarks made on the e-frentual marriage aUuded to, which your readers wiU thank me for communicating to them, especiaUy as they are such as are not usuaUy met with in newspapers. On the 26th of August of the present year the Times gave the foUowing news : " The Dagbladet of Copenhagen confirms the announcement of an early aUiance between the Prince of Wales and the Princess Alexandra, daughter of Prince Christian, heir presumptive to the Crown of Denmark. Prince Christian quitted Copenhagen some days ago, with his •wife, two erf his daughters, and the Princess. He proposes, after having -visited his elder brother at Louisenlund, to go to Ostend. It is generally supposed that his Highness •wiU M 2 164 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. thence proceed to Rheinhardtsbrunn, in Cobourg- Gotha, where Queen Victoria wUl reside some weeks." Before I proceed any further, I should like to ask a question ? Is the Times quite certain that Prince Christian is looked upon, in Denmark, as heir presumptive to the Cro^wn ? The truth is, that he has been chosen in place of the hefrs, and that in vfrtue of a treaty imposed by England. WUl the fulfUment of this treaty be enforced ? It may be questioned ; and the doubt exists in the minds of many persons who are, or pretend to be, initiated into the mysteries of diplo macy. But in whatever manner the question be solved here after, the dUemma which Ues before England at the present moment is this : Either Prince Christian 'wiU renounce his claim to the throne, in which case the EngUsh people wiU not have much reason to boast of the aUiance ; or he wUl adliere to his claim, in which case the alUance wiU become a peril for England, because of the Schleswig-Holstein question, and of the war between Denmark and Prussia which threatens, sooner or later, to arise out of it. The Times ought to be aware of that : a paper so essentiaUy the organ of diplomacy ! But let us proceed. On the 4th September the Times -wrote : " There is much talk — and in this instance pubUc rumour shows itself weU informed — of a marriage between the hefr to the Crown of England and a Danish Princess. It is said that the Priace has met the Princess- — as, indeed, he might have met any other lady as worthy of fixing his choice — but it is added, that he admfres and loves the Danish Princess more than any other person, and that, in the tour he is about to undertake, they wiU have an opportunity of knowing each other a Uttle better. Up to the present moment no proposal has been made, and consequently no proposal has been accepted. The Prince and the Princess are to see each other at Brussels, and we hope to receive, before long, good news from that friendly Court." It is worthy of remark that when the Times wrote this, the Prince and the Princess had never seen each other. The admfra tion and affection mentioned by the Times could not, therefore, have been yet engendered. There was in that, whether pur posely or accidentaUy, a false assertion. The only thing frue is, that the marriage was not in any manner decided upon. AN EVENTUAL MARRIAGE AND MR. URQUHART. 165 But if nothing was concluded, aU was liable to miscarry. And yet, through the agency of some mysterious influence, it so happened that a great noise was aU at once made about this event, before it was an event. A negotiation scarcely opened was given out as fafrly and fuUy concluded. The Prince of Wales was declared, beforehand, to be in love; the papers married him off, without further delay ; photo graphy took part in the affair ; the two portraits, placed side by side, and united by the inscription : " Our future King and our future Queen," atfracted everywhere the notice of the passer-by. Fancy what would have happened if, by any mishap, the marriage did not come off! It must 'be ad mitted that this indiscreet pubUcity would have placed the Princess Alexandra in a very singular position ! And might not the Prince of Wales himself have been thro-wn into a very disagreeable embarrassment ? However that may be, on the 4th of September the Queen of England left Brussels ; on the 7th the Prince of Wales entered it ; on the 8th the Princess arrived ; on the 1 6th the Prince took his departure from Brussels, as did also the Princess and her father; and on the, 17th the Prince of Wales arrived by himself at Rheinhardtsbrunn. On the previous day the foUowing paragraph had appeared in aU the London papers : " An authenticated communication informs us that the marriage of the Prince of Wales with the Princess Alexandra of Denmark has been privately arranged at Brussels ; that it is solely based on mutual affection and on the personal merits of the Princess, and that it is in no way connected with poUtical considerations. The late lamented Prince Consort, whose sole object was the welfare of his chUdren, was long con^vinced that this marriage was very desfrable. The knowledge of this fact is a source df profound satisfaction for the Queen, and wUl also cause much satisfac tion to the counfry." The author of this communication, whoever he may be, has certainly said what he did not mean to say, when he asserts that Prince Albert's sole object, when aUve, was the welfare of his chUdren. . But let that pass. It would seem, however, that there was something sfrange in the cfrcumstance that the Queen should leave Brussels just as the marriage of her son was being arranged there ; neither is it easy to imder- 166 LETTERS. ON ENGLAND. stand how it was 'that the Prince of Wales, when he was going to rejoin his mother at Rheinhardtsbrunn, did not make a point of conducting thither his bride and his future father-. in-law. It is probable that aU this, if everything were kno^wn, could be explained naturaUy enough ; but, as every thing is not 'kno.wn, conjectures have thefr way in the little cfrcle to which I aUuded at the commencement of this letter. There are therein a dozen of the initiated, •with Mr. Urquhart at thefr head, for whom, to hear them speak, the diplomacy of Courts has no mysteries, and you can form no, idea of the commentaries beyond human ken into which they have plunged with reference to this affafr. They suppose the Queen to be Uttle in favour of this match ; they suppose it to be much more to the taste of the Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Christian's aunt ; they suppose, in the communications addressed to the papers, a design to prepare pubUc opinion beforehand to haU as a fortunate event what they themselves regard as a danger ; they suppose— what do they not sup-, pose ? - The Times of the 4th of September said : "Rumour assigns to the Princess Royal the principal part in the arrangement of the marriage of the Prince of Wales. In fact, nothing can be more proper and natural than that a woman, prompted by. the affectionate sentiments of a sister, and enUghtened by the ' experience afforded by her age, her sex, and her position, should interest herself actively in her brother's happiness, instead of confining herself to offering him the aid of her. prayers and good wishes. She was in a position to seek for what was likely to suit him far better than he could have done it for himself, and she appears to have succeeded. This aUiance — for in our days every marriage is caUed an aUiance — is perhaps the last that would have commended itself to the minds of the friends by whom the Princess is at present sur rounded. But she thought only of the pleasure of seeing her brother and her brother's wife forming at the earUest possible date the first couple in the kingdom." Rumour, which, throughout this affafr, seems to have been the Egeria of the leading paper, may this time have been mistaken. It is little likely that the Princess Royal, married in Prussia, would have sought in Denmark for a wife for her brother, at a time when war is imminent between Prussia and AN EVENTUAL„ MARRIAGE AND MR. URQUHART. 167 Denmark. How, indeed, can she be supposed to have steiven to introdiice her brother into a family against which the family of her own husband may to-morrow be taking up arms. As to the motive which the above article ascribes to the Princess Royal; that is to say, the desfre of seeing her brother married as soon as possible, such a motive, in the absence of any other, is simply ridiculous. But though the marriage of the Prince of Wales may not be his sister's handiwork, it does not at aU foUow that it shoiUd be the handiwork of the Duchess of Cambridge, which is exactly what Mr. Urquhart — the high priest in the temple to which I was just now pointing, would have his foUowers beUeve. He is a sfrange personage this Mr. Urquhart ! Cleverness he has as much as any one, and I may add that no one under stands better than he does how to find in pubUc documents what is in them, and also — what is not in them. But he is afBictedwith an infirmity of a pecuUar character. He ishaunted, tormented, possessed by the idea that Lord Palmerston is sold to Russia; and it is a black intrigue of Lord Palmer ston's he has discovered at the bottom of the Prince of Wales's marriage, which, according to Mr. Urquhart's organ, the Free Press, cannot faU to precipitate England into terrible compUcations, to ¦ the great advantage and gratification of Russia. I need not teU you that Mr. Urquhart is a star round which very few sateUites revolve, and that the EngUsh do not look so far ahead for troubles. It is more to the purpose that the Princess Alexandra is represented as an accompUshed person ; that her marriage with the Prince of Wales has the openly expressed approbation of such statesmen as Lord Derby and^Mr. Gladstone ; and that the alUance is decidedly popular. But Mr. Urquhart cannot do without something to be indig nant about from time to time, — " indignation," to use his own words, "being the salt which prevents a nation -from rotting." 168 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. LETTER XCIL THE VANQUISHED OP ASPEOMONTE AND THE ENGLISH. October 16th, 1862. I KNOW not if you have been sfruck Uke myself by the grandeur of this spectacle. England, beyond aU others the country of accompUshed facts, the classic land of success .accepted and adored, — England seized -with affection and admfration almost unbounded for Garibaldi vanquished, wounded, and a prisoner ! England forgetting to be what she especiaUy piques herself on being, a practical nation, in order to render homage to a man who has not succeeded ! In the eyes of posterity, it -wUl be the supreme title of Gari baldi's glory, the brUliant originaUfy of his part, that he did not need success to be admfred, in a counfry where a fallen man is seldom a hero and where friumphant force never yet wanted an altar. ShaU I teU you of aU the meetings that have been held in his honour ? ShaU I mention the one at Sunderland ? or the one -at Glasgow ? ShaU I repeat the many glo-wing words caUed forth by the enthusiasm even of men whose profession it is to preach the peaceful worship of the Gospel ? And aU has not been confined to speechifying. England has resolved to confribute, through one of her children, to the recovery of the wounded man. The dispatch of Dr. Partridge to Spezzia is a characteristic fact. Subscriptions have been opened, and immediately fiUed. There is not a single workman whose mite there would be any risk in asking for, if it were for Garibaldi ; and, were it necessary, he too could coUect his Peter's pence. However, it would be an exaggeration to say that the enthusiasm admits of no exception. Like ancient Greece, England has her boors whom the wisdom of Aristides annoy, and who are bored by hearing him sfyled "the just." But even these are very careful not to run counter to pubUc opinion in too direct a manner. Thefr mode of com bating the great ItaUan is by turning aside upon another THE VANQUISHED OF ASPROMONTE AND THE ENGLISH. 169 the blows intended for himself: they strike him on the head of Mazzini. They affect to consider him as a noble but simple creature who has been, and wUl again be deceived, if necessary, by promoters of dark intrigues. They pity him, in a weU-simulated tone of compassion, for not ha'ving suc ceeded in preserving -himself from the snares of European. revolutionists. Th^ insinuate that the committee which has done the most for Garibaldi was composed of persons notoriously associated with Mazzini : namely, Mr. Stansfeld and Mr. "Taylor, members of Parliament ; Mr. Ashurst, one of the leading attorneys in the Cify, and a brother-in-law of Mr. Stansfeld; and Mr. MacAdam of Glasgow, to whom Mazzini is in the habit of writing whenever he wishes to have a letter pubUshed. These tactics are able. Mazzini has been so frequently and so violently attacked in England ; Galenga, his most cruel enemy, has waged against him in the columns of the Times such unrelenting and bitter warfare ; the public has been so accustomed to associate the name of the ex-triumvfr •with ideas of terror ; he has, in short, been rendered so unpopular on this side of the Channel, that the best means of doing Garibaldi an evU turn is by gi^ving a Mazzinian hue to the cause he is defending. And yet it would seem that in the recent events Garibaldi and Mazzini have not obeyed the same inspfrations. Both of them unquestionably desfre the unity of Italy, and it is certainly not surprising that the partisans of the latter should take a warm interest in the former ; but, if I am rightly informed, Mazzini's plan was to direct against Venice the efforts of the Italian democrats, whUe Garibaldi, in threatening Rome, took counsel of no one but himself. For all that, it is a skilful calculation to represent Garibaldi as the blind instrument of Mazzini's designs. How artfuUy has the Times coupled the two names together in commenting upon Mazzini's last proclamation ! "What a good chance for the Times was the pubUcation of the manifesto in which the celebrated agitator declares that there is nothing more to be expected from Victor Emmanuel ; in which he summons the Republicans to break definitely with a principle that is, according to his views, both intolerant and intolerable ; in which he denounces constitutional monarchy in Italy as containing the most serious obstacles to ItaUan 170 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. independence; in which he recaUs to mind that Italy is indebted to the revolutionary principle, whether acting spon taneously or through the medium of Garibaldi, for Florence, Naples, and SicUy ; whereas she is indebted to the monarchical principle as personified in Victor Emmanuel and at present administered by Signor Rattazzi — for what ? for the abandon ment of Nice, for the loss of Savoy, for the proclamation of martial law, and for the faU of Garibaldi, struck do'wn at Aspromonte, by an Italian buUet. AUow me to draw your particular attention to the foUowing passage in the Times' article : " The city of Naples has been taken; the city of Florence has been revolutionised by an insurrectionary movement, independently of the royal troops, Why should not Rome be taken in the same fashion ? That a similar mode of reasoning should have been adopted at the same time by Mazzini and Garibaldi, shows better than any thing else could do, to what danger Italy is exposed, and how necessary is a strict vigUance on the part of the Government." What did I teU you ? The plan of the campaign against Garibaldi is here clearly enough sketched out. Garibaldi and Mazzini, it is aU one. If Mazzini is the Mephistopheles of democracy — so says the Times — Garibaldi is the Faust. It is in vain that the hero of Varese inscribed on his banner : "The Unity of Italy and Victor Emmanuel:" how could he faU to be looked upon by the men of order as one of thefr most dangerous enemies, and by the revolutionists as one of their most powerful instigators ? Behind Faust stands Mephistopheles, who urges him onward to the overthrowal of thrones and the upheavement of Europe ? After this fashion does the Times endeavour to estrange its readers from Garibaldi ; and you may rest assured that it knows perfectly weU to what class of individuals it addresses itself. You wUl not now be surprised that Garibaldi's letter to the EngUsh people has not found favour in the eyes of the Times. What a style ! Could not Garibaldi praise England, thank her for her moral support, and express to her his gratitude, without indulging this excess of warmth, and using such impassioned language ? Why these vehement eff'usions, the form of which seems to be borrowed from the vocabulary of demagogues ? THE VANQUISHED OF ASPROMONTE AND THE ENGLISH. 171 The Times had here in view a pubUc it knows right weU. Very great, indeed, is in England the number of persons who pass thefr life in guarding against emotions. Deep feeUng makes them sick ; they turn it into ridicule ; they call it sen^imentalism. If you are a writer, beware of eloquence — ^for they "wiU caU you a declaimer. If you speak in pubUc, let your speech be as little impressive as possible ; and in the matter of gesticulation let your model be a statue, for otherwise they wUl suspect you of being an orator. Prithee, let not your pulse have too many pulsations. Surely, no qne appreciates more highly than I do the imposing character of EngUsh gra'vity. The •virUe dignity of their bearing, the earnestness of their pursuits, the sober tone of their language, the power of self-confrol they possess, are qualities before which I readily bow ; but still they need not be carried to excess, and should not lead to the regarding as childish, affected, or insincere, whatever is the free, spontaneous im pulse of the heart. Besides, it would be absurd on the part of any people to pretend to measure aU other peoples by its o^wn standard. Each nation has, and ought to -have, its own pecu-. liar genius. The eloquence of the South may weU differ from that of the North. An ItaUan may be pardoned for expressing his feelings with greater vivacity than a Saxon; and when I see the Times rebuke Garibaldi for having testified his gratitude to England in impassioned terms, methinks I see a fog picking a quarrel with the sun. It is superfluous for me to inform you — as your readers are afready aware of it — that a general meeting in honour of the vanquished of Aspromonte was to have been held in the GuUdhaU. The Lord Mayor had at first agreed to lend it for that purpose, but afterwards withdrew his consent. FutUe, indeed, was the motive assigned to cover this backward step : .Garibaldi ha^ving been pardoned, there was no further neces- sify for an imposing manifestation to secure his safety ! As- if there had been any question of Garibaldi's safety! As if Garibaldi needed any aid to secure his safety ! As if aU the organs of pubUc opinion in England had not every morning said again and again to thefr readers, that to place such a man upon his frial was an impossibilify ; that there never could be found counsel to accuse him, or judges to condemn him. or even to acqtut him ; that he had to answer for his 172 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. actions only to the consciences of mankind, and that his tri bunal was posterity ! The object of the meeting, therefore, was not, and could not be, to protect him against the •wrath of Signor Rattazzi. The question was placed higher, much hi I LETTER XCIIL THE PEIENBS OP THE SOUTH IN ENGLAND ; THEIK EXTEEME PAETIALITY. October 18th, 1862. Aee the Federals reaUy entitled, this time also, to shout, " Victory ! Victory ! " ? Is it indeed frue that on the 3rd of this month the Federal General Rosencranz defeated, at Corinth, the Confederates, commanded by Generals Price and Van Dom ? Is it true that there was great carnage ? Is it true that the Confederates took to fiight, lea-ving in the hands of the conquerors two batteries and some himdreds of prisoners ? Such is the news announced to-day by the telegraph. But its language may be clear as daylight and brutaUy affirmative THE FRIENDS OF THE SOUTH JN ENGLAND. 173 as possible : that terrible "Is it true ? " wUl not the less go the round of a considerable portion of the EngUsh press. Had some private letter, however, said: "The Federals are utterly routed ; the Confederates have done wonders. Washington faembles ! " no doubt would then have been per mitted. But for the Federals to have gained the day ! "Who could beUeve that ? I know not if the increduUty displayed by the EngUsh friends of the South every time that there is talk of a Federal -victory, be real or affected, but it is incon ceivable -with what art, •with what subtUfy, with what analy tical talent, they pull to pieces any news opposed to their hopes ! They excel in rendering obscure what is clear, in denying whatever is open to doubt, in equivocating about what is certain, in changing a success into a defeat, and shouts of friumph into shrieks of agony. But how credulous they become, these grand sceptics, as soon as the scale leans towards the Confederate side ! How skilful are they then in assigning , gigantic proportions to the successes of the South ! How adroit are they, in such a case, in handUng hyperboles ! Me- decins tant pis with regard to the Federals, they are invariably Medecins tant mieux with regard to the Confederates. They mutUate so weU the victories of the former, and enlarge so weU the victories of the latter, that it would be aU up with history if it were its fate to Ue do^wn in the Procrustean bed of thefr con clusions. On Tuesday last, ha'ving left home rather early, I met in the sfreet two EngUshmen of my acquaintance, both of them partisans of the South. They appeared to be extremely ani mated. " WeU," cried they, as soon as they perceived me, and with a voice frembUng with emotion, " have you read the Times ? " — " No." — " What ! you have not read to-day's Times t " — " No.— What is the matter, then ? " — " What is the matter ? A series of horrors to make the hafr on your head stand on end. Read ! read ! and after that be a Nor therner, if you dare ! " I immediately entered a newsman's shop, .purchased a number of the Times, and therein read a letter, not signed, which "An EngUshman" had sent to that paper, purporting to have been written to him by a lady at New Orleans. The letter was thus dated : "1st September, 1862, fifth month of the reign of Terror." It contained a very vehement denunciation of General Butlei> who was 174 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. represented as a tyrant, and to whom were imputed acts of an excessive rigour. A lady had been confined in Ship-Island for having smUed at the moment that Captain Kay's funeral procession was passing beneath her windows. ' A Creole lady, denounced by one of her negroes as having arms concealed in her house, had been condemned to a year's imprisonment in the place named above, but was afterwards left at Uberfy on the condition that her son took the oath of aUegiance. A judge, named Andrews, had been condemned to two years' imprisonment with hard labour for having displayed a clasp in the form of a cross, which he said was made of a Yankee's bones. Here are other facts of a more general nature : while Butler disarmed the population of New Orleans that was hostile to him, he armed the coloured population ; he imposed the oath of fidelity on every one who asked permission to leave the cify; he openly declared, that rather than evacuate it, if he were forced to extremities, he would reduce it to ashes; he taught the negroes the driU and the use of fire-arms ; he en- coifraged slaves to complain against thefr masters, &c., &c. I am certainly not one of those who look upon justice as an affair of expediency, who recognise that warfare has a right to be barbarous, who concede to the fear of danger the privUege of being implacable, who start, in short, in thefr appreciation, of measures adopted for the safety of a people, from the mur derous sophism ; Salus populi, suprema lex. I am profoundly convinced that whatever is iniquitous betrays a want of in telUgence, and that the most briUiant victories wiU never com pensate for the evil done to a cause by the employment of brutal or ferocious measures. But in order to know, when the Hmit of justice is past, every element of the question under examination must be taken into account. Now, what do we see in this very letter which has so deeply moved the partisans of the South ? Does it not bear witness, on the part of those whose ideas and feeUngs it represents, to a hafred beyond all bounds, to a furious opposition, to a determined course of insults and provocations ? Does not the lady who -writes it give credit to the women of the class to which she belongs for their indomitable attitude, for their eagerness to kindle a revolt, for thefr zeal ia imparting a fanatical tone to the war ? Does she not herself say : " You wUl caU this enthusiasm, but how can it be otherwise ? Enthusiasm belongs to our nature, THE FRIENDS OF THE SOUTH IN ENGLAND. 175 and it is not the present state of things that is likely to diminish it." It is assuredly quite excusable not to have any Uking for General Butler ; but to laugh when the dead are carried past — as a hint to the living — to wear, by way of ornament, the bones of a Yankee and boast of it — to keep in the house an arsenal, so that when the moment arrives for the attack, the enemy without the waUs may not be without auxUiaries within — this is scarcely a mere childish foUy in a city so menaced as is New Orleans, especiaUy when such facts are associated -with a vast system of excitation to fury. Besides, where is the proof that the facts alleged in this letter are devoid of exaggeration ? " Le style, c'est I'homme," says Buffon ; which signifies, I imagine, that when a woman holds the pen, " the style is the woman." This being the case, the letter in question is written in such a manner as to give an idea of the narratrix which renders the narrative somewhat suspicious. Would the lady who takes General Butler so rudely to task be incapable of saying anything that is not to be thought an article of faith? But if she is convinced that General Butler is a monster, she is not less so that the popu lation of the North is a rabble. She asserts that in the North the leaders themselves are obscure individuals raised to power by the populace ; that hardly one of them knows who was his grandfather, and that many of them have never even heard of thefr father. She sees in them only poor creatures, as incapable of defending the national honour as their own. She describes them, without any beating about the bush, as the scum of Europe. It is -with difficulty that she admits that they were bom of a woman. She wiU not aUow that the " gentlemen" ofthe South have ever been, or ever could be, beaten by that vUe mob of artisans and traders who are caUed the North. She ascribes the entrance of the Federals into New Orleans to treason ; to the mutiny of the common soldiers, mere nobodies, against thefr officers ; to the fact that the " gentlemen" could not be at one and the same time in the forts and in the plain. She singles out as the abomina tion of abominations, the spirit of independence inculcated in the blacks. She has heard that at a meeting it was resolved ,to exterminate the whites in a body, and she asks for no further proof in confirmation of the fact. She compares the in'violabiUty of the relations between master and slave to the 176 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. sacredness of the laws which regulate mUitary discipUne. She shudders with horror at the idea of a slave being authorised to lodge a complaint against the owner of his soul and body. One of General Butler's darkest crimes in her eyes is hus not having any famUy portraits to hang up in his dining-room. " He is one of the common people," she says. It may easUy be imagined under what colours facts are likely to be depicted by an imagination thus constituted, and how necessary it is to be on one's guard against a narrator haunted by such-like prejudices, when a prey to such outbursts of fury. Here, however, the friends of the South do not care to look too closely. To deny under all cfrcumstances what is said by the Federals, to believe under aU cfrcumstances what is said by the Confederates, forms thefr mode of reasoning. The misfortune is, that they are in force in this country. There is no doubt that the torrent of opinion flows on thefr side, and it is according to their views one must speak, if anxious to command loud-sounding plaudits. ShaU I can didly express my whole mind? I fear that Mr. Gladstone yielded to the temptation of courting popularity when, on a recent occasion, he gave so much praise to Jefferson Davis for ha-ving created " an army, a fleet, a nation." Perchance he has since repented of that weakness. Either I am mistaken, or the eulogies emulously heaped upon him by his rivals and opponents, have warned him of his error. With what effusion, for instance, did not Lord Hardwicke, at Southampton, congratulate the ChanceUor of the Exchequer on having had the courage at last to declare that Jefferson Davis had made " a great and independent nation," thus im proving upon the text ! And with what eagerness did not Sfr John Pakington, who, in a higher degree than any other member of the Conservative party, personifles its general tendencies, quote Mr. Gladstone's words, and add, by way of comment: "The time is come when not only England, but also France and Russia, ought to offer thefr mediation and, in case of refusal, to recognise the South ! " It fortunately happens that these gentlemen have been a Uttle too hasty in prejudging the intentions of the Cabinet. At Hereford, Sfr George Cornewall Le-wis, Secretary of State for War, threw a paU of cold water upon the flame which GLA,DSTONE AND LEWIS ON THE AMERICAN QUESTION. 177 Mr. Gladstone had kindled at Newcastle. And what is yet more significant is that no allusion, direct or indirect, no provocation, serious or jovial, have -wrung from the prudence of Lord Palmerston at the different banquets at which he has recently figured, a single word that could in any way pledge the Government on the subject of the independence of the South. Let the Federals make haste to conquer. AU de pends upon that. In England, as in France, as everywhere, " nothing succeeds better than success." One thing appears certain, . in any case, and that is, that the institution of slavery is dra-wing to an end : even before the Proclamation of President Lincoln was kno'wn, Neal Dow, in command of Port Philip, in Mississippi, wrote that slavery -within the territory held by his troops was aboUshed, and some definite instructions were given on the subject. The negroes foUow or join the Unionists where they have a chance of being weU received. They would long since have proceeded in a body to New Orleans, had they been certain of ' there finding Uberfy. Thus crumbles away the great argument of the advocates for slavery, which consisted in representing the negroes as enamoured of thefr own servitude, and resolved not to en counter the horrible misfortune of being — free I LETTER XCIV. ME. GLADSTONE AND SIE G. C. LEWIS ON THE AMEBICAN QUESTION. October 2Uh, 1862. The sensation produced in England by Mr. Gladstone's last speech stiU continues, though it has changed character. How eagerly did the Conservatives seize upon these words of the Chancellor of the Exchequer : " Jefferson Davis has created an army, a navy, a nation.'. " To hear them speak, it was now aU over ; the recognition of the Confederate States by England was about to take place ; the policy of the Cabinet, VOL. II. ^ 178 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. touching America, had uttered its last word by the mouth of the most eloquent of its members. " Down 'with the North ! .The South for ever!" So great was the joy in the Tory Camp, that it manifested itself in compHments, and unbur dened itseK in congratulations. It was a novelty somewhat startling to see Mr. Gladstone pubUcly approved by Sfr John Pakington, and quoted with ecstasy by Lord Hard-wicke, both of thenl members of the Cabinet which preceded and may be caUed upon to succeed Lord Palmerston's. But it was not to the Conservative parfy only that this cfrcumstance was a matter of gratification. T think I have afready told you, and I repeat it, that the partisans of the South in England are met with everjTvhere — among the Liberals as weU- as among the Conservatives, in the Daily Telegraph as weU as in the Times, at the clubs, in general society, and even—though in a very smaU minorify — among the working men. Yes, it is decidedly to the side of the slave-owners, because they are free traders, producers of cotton, and are thought to be insincere Repub- Hcans, — it is to the side of the owners of human cat\te that lean the wishes of England. The North has its partisans, no doubt ; but they have uphill work before them, whUe thefr adversaries have only to descend the slope. The sympathies for the North are a dam ; the sympathies for the South are a torrent. This is the reason why Mr. Gladstone's words went straight to the heart of the nation, and why they were interpreted with eagerness in the sense of an early recognition of the Confederate States. But, lo ! in a speech deUvered at Hereford, Sfr George ComewaU Lewis, Secretary of State for War, has suddenly put a curb on the warm expectations which his coUeague had unchained at Newcastle. Not content with declaring that the S^uth had not estabUshed its independence, Sfr George Lewis refused to admit that England could intervene before the entfre exhaustion of the forces of the assailing power. Is anything more needed to prove that at Newcastle Mr. Gladstone spoke in his o-wn name alone ; that the Cabinet has not yet arrived at any final conclusion concerning America ; and that if it contains an aristocratic element favourable to the South, that element is not without a counterpoise ? It remains to be explained how Mr. Gladstone came to give GLADSTONE AND LEWIS ON THE AMERICAN QUESTION. 179 the one parfy such Ul-founded joy, and to inspfre in the other such baseless fears; for the above-mentioned words of the ChanceUor of the Exchequer had generaUy been considered as a revelation of the views of the Cabinet. If I mistake not, the explanation is furnished in Mr. Gladstone's own character. Mr. Gladstone, in fact, is not merely a statesman. He is essentially a man of letters, an artist, an orator. Hence his fondness for applause. Like aU men of letters, he gladly inhales the incense that burns in the perfuming pans of a friendly press. Like aU artists, he is possessed of sensibUity. Like aU orators, he loves to behold in the enthusiasm of an excited audience the evidence of his own power. With a similar disposition, a man who had less elevation of soul would soon become a vulgar worshipper of public opinion. Mr. Gladstone is certainly not of that class. His upright ness saves him from the danger which ever Ues in lending too complacent an ear to the applause of the streets. But it is not the less true that he sometimes shaves unconsciously the reef on which inferior natures would not faU to be -wrecked. No one is more pleased than he to be the mouth-piece of pubUc opinion, when distinctly expressed. No one is more ready than he to encourage wishes that are enunciated with much unanimify and clearness. No one would more heartily cry " Forward ! " to the nation when making a forward movement. And what renders this part niore easy for him to play is, that he has no opinions formed beforehand. Not that he is sceptical— he is only undecided. And he is undecided, as I have afready told you, through excess of penetration. His inteUect, less -vigorous than subtle, makes him see too weU every aspect of a case ; it shows him so thoroughly the good and the bad side of every conclusion, that he hesitates between the pro and the con ; so that his firmness of judg ment is in the inverse ratio to his sagacity. Is it surprising, then, that he should look beyond himself for a guide to decision and action, which he would seek in vain within him self? When, therefore, pubUc opinion offers him a support, he is only too happy to avaU himself of it, the general move ment of other minds helping to encourage him against his own apprehensions, and to create in him a wiU. N 2 180 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. Quite a different man is Sir George Lewis. Of a tempera ment essentiaUy critical, cold, and argumentative, the Secre tary of State for War is naturaUy more incUned to censure the impulses of pubUc opinion than to submit to them. A rebel against the inspirations of enthusiasm, he is not the man to renounce his right of examination and control ui presence of a mob, whether it applaud or disapprove. Where Mr. Gladstone displays the power of exciting, Sir George Lewis displays the power of restraining. Where the former acts in the capacity of a spur, the latter acts in the capacity of a curb. As is usual with men of indecision, the former, as soon as he ceases to hesitate, rushes forward. As is usual with unimpassioned men, the latter wUls thoroughly what he does will, and yet marches to his goal with slow and measured steps. In the present instance the two men, whose moral physio gnomy I have just sketched, have acted precisely as might naturally have been expected of them. The one has spoken the language of impulse, the other that of prudence. And Lord Palmerston ? Lord Palmerston has said nothing at aU. In vain have aU sorts of de-vices been adopted to force his hand. In vain did Lord Hardwicke, at Southampton, affect to repeat, with ex aggeration, the phrase which, coming from Mr. Gladstone, had produced such an effect at Newcastle and elsewhere. Lord Palmerston, who was seated at the same table -with Lord Hardwicke, imperturbably turned a deaf ear. Lord Hardwicke had proposed a toast to the health of the ministers, but not to their political health. This jest Lord Palmerston seized upon with characteristic gaiety, remarking that his noble friend and opponent need not be at aU anxious about the consequences of his toast ; aud that country afr, rural pleasures, the absence of cares, and repose, aU of them ipcompatible with official Hfe, constituted the secret of pre serving health ; but what Lord Hardwicke tried to lure him on to say, he did not say. On the part of the Premier such systematic reserve is significant. It is clear that the Cabinet does not mean to commit itself on the American question. But wUl not public opinion force it to take some decision ? There would certainly be reason to fear this, were there not two motives for hoping for the best, namely : on the one hand, THE SOLIDARITY OF MANKIND. 181 the disposition of the English people to let Lord Palmerston act as he thinks right, his "pluck" and prudence inspfring every one -with perfect confldence; and on the other hand. Lord Palmerston's inclination to wait for rather than to force denoitments ; an attitude and poUcy in thorough harmony with the character of a man who has no passion for anything, who takes Ufe smUingly and things easUy, who prides himself upon neither profound calculations nor transcendental -views, and who owes the popularity which he enjoys in England to that quaUfy which the English prize above all others, however vulgar it may appear — " a strong common sense." LETTER XCV. THE SOLIDAEITT OP MANKIND PEOVED BY THE DESTITU TION IN LANCASHIEE. October 25th, 1862. " Aures habent et non audient, ooulos habent et non videbunt." What a terrible lesson would the distress in Lancashire be, were it in the power of men, enslaved as they are by thefr prejudices, to profit by the teachings of history ! Assuredly if ever the world had a proof that the interests of nations, the most widely remote from one another, are one and indivisible, it is at this present moment. The working men of Lancashfre and Cheshfre are perishing of hunger because far, very far away, beyond the vast ocean, the two moieties of a nation are cutting" one another's throats. .They suffer, they are in agony, they perish, victims of faults not their own, victims of a mad ness which they scarcely comprehend. Had they for, years together traded in human flesh; had they looked on with impitying eye, thousands of times, •while the blood of the negro spfrted out beneath the whip of the overseer ; had they tom thousands of chUdren from their mothers to sell them as vUe cattle ; the atonement could not have been more complete or more cruel. The culprits are there, the innocent are here ; 182 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. but the chastisement is here as well as there. On the other side of the Atlantic, artiUery ; on this side, famine. And, what is the most horrible thought of aU is, that on this side of the ocean also one may easily find those who are g^Uty. But punishment has not yet overtaken them. If, after the principal European Powers had signed that famous declaration of 1856, the tendency of which was to protect the rights of neutrals and consecrate the principle, so long disputed, that "the flag covers the goods;" if, after signing that important treaty, it had been resolved that thenceforth the capture of private property upon the seas should be prohibited ; if it had been further resolved that the right of blockade should be abolished, except in the case of a fortress being besieged by sea and by land, would destitution now be holding by the throat half a miUion of human brings in Lancashire and Cheshire ? Now, — let it not be forgotten — the absolute liberty of the seas was proposed by. Mr. Marcy in the name of the Wash ington Cabinet ; and the aboUtion of blockades was proposed a Uttle later in the name of the same Cabinet by General Cass. On these conditions America would have renounced privateering, and would have affixed her signature to the declaration of 1856. But no: the English Government was quite wUling that privateering should be suppressed, because privateering constituted in time of war the strength of the Americans, whose mercantUe marine is large, while their naval forces are comparatively nothing : on other points the English Govemment was Uttle prepared to yield to the argu ments of General Cass and Mr. Marcy. Having at her disposal the most formidable na'vy in the world, England was little pre pared to renounce the right of undertaking, when the time came, the police of the seas, and of bringing America's coasts 'under the sovereignfy of her flag. This is styled, — in political jargon, — being national, being sagacious, possessing sound sense. In fact, for an EngUsh man is it not the question to be English ; for a Frenchman, to be French ; for a Catholic, to be Catholic ; for a Protestant, to be Protestant ? and so forth. To be a man is nothing. The idea that political science is the science of principles belongs to little minds. Talk to me of those profound statesmen who understand how to raise themselves above that foUy — justice ! THE SOLIDARITY OF MANKIND. 183 Yet, what has resulted from the refusal of the EngHsh Government to lend thefr ear even for a moment to the pro posals of Mr: Marcy and General Cass ? Has England gained much by this wise, sensible, eminently national poUcy ? Here are the results in a few words : — • The subjection of the sea to the rapacify of beUigerent passions having closed the markets of Europe against American cotton, the most valuable, the most productive of EngHsh manufactures was suddenly sfricken to the heart. In the last report of Mr. Farnall, Poor Law Inspector, for the Poor Laws, it is stated that of 352,240 artisans employed, previous to the war in America, in the cotton districts, there are 143,172 whose arms have been, as it were, absolutely broken by this war, whUe the number of those who are very partiaUy at work is not less than 129,414. Count now the women, count the chUdren, and as a statistical statement of the crowd of starving creatures in what are ordinarUy the most industrious and most opulent districts of indusfrious and opulent England, you wiU arrive at the awful total of half a miUion. And that is by no means aU. These poor wretches, who are now without a morsel of bread, were earning previous to this war exceUent wages, and on their wages depended a numerous population of petty tradesmen, who in thefr turn are ruined, decimated, and reduced to despair. Nay, more. It is estimated that since the commencement of the American war the value of goods — to a large extent EngUsh — captured at sea exceeds twenfy miUions sterHng. To lose in so short a time so large a sum, without taking into account what wUl yet be lost, is not being sagacious at a moderate price ! From the bottom of my heart, therefore, do I applaud the conclusions dra'wn by Mr. Cobden in the speech he deUvered on Friday before the Manchester Chamber of Commerce. With that practical genius which characterises him, he demands that an agitation simUar to that of the Anti-Corn- Law League should be organised in favour of the freedom of the seas. Heaven aid him ! But, in the meantime, what is to become of the working men of Lancashfre and Cheshfre ? This question, which would be difficult of solution anywhere, ia especiaUy so in 184 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. England ; and that because there is no country on the earth where the maxim Chacun chez soi, chacun pour soi prevails more strongly. The inhabitants of the cotton districts suffer undoubtedly from a misfortune that proceeds from general causes, and to which it consequently appears absurd to dssign a purely local character. In reality it is a national misfortune, and national in its effects as well as in its causes. For aU that, strange to say, the dominant idea here is that it belongs to the districts overwhelmed by the crisis to resist it as weU as they can. The calm courage, the patience, aye, the heroism displayed by the Lancashire artisans are the theme of general admiration; the nation is proud of them ; it says so by aU who serve as its mouthpieces^members of ParUament, preachers, pubhc speakers, and journalists ; but the nation which admires these imfortunate beings does not think itself bound, as a nation, to succour them. That is the affair of the parish rates. Would you Hke to know what at this moment is the value of this Hmited succour ? Fifteen-pence a head per week, on an average ! With fifteen-pence a week a being with a human form has to find food, clothing, and a roof to cover him ! And winter is at hand ! The poor creatures who are permitted to retikon on this miserable pittance are artisans accustomed, as I have afready observed, to earn high wages, who have known, if not the enjoyments of luxury, at least the comforts of competency. They have laid up nothing, then, against evil times ? I beg your pardon : the crisis has afready lasted a long time ; thefr savings have been consumed ; their furniture has been turned into money ; their goods and chattels have been put in pawn ; they have fallen to the level of the " pauper," whUe pre serving, as if to feel their distress more keenly, the soul of the freeman ! To each of them is given fifteen pence a week, as if to die by a slow death was not dying ! as if cherishing their agony sufficed for the observance of the principle solemnly recognised by the EngHsh nation, that a man, who, though willing to work, cannot find work, does not thereby forfeit his right to Hve ! In the number of my friends I am happy to reckon Mr. Monckton Milnes. He is a man of imagination, a wit, a man of the world, and, what is better than all that, he is an excel- MR. COBDEN AND THE RIGHT OF BLOCKADE. 185 lent man. WeU, at a meeting held at Pontefract on Tuesday last, in reference to these poor starving people of Lancashfre, Mr. Monckton Milnes, who feels for thefr sufferings as much as any one, did not hesitate to declare himself opposed to every system of national succour. It is a characteristic fact. That private benevolence should intervene, and be encouraged and stimulated, is Mr. Monckton MUnes' ardent wish. He demands with a sort of generous anguish that men who deserve to Hve should not be left to perish. But he is entfrely opposed to the Govemment doing more than it has afready done, unless it be forced, absolutely forced, to do so. The principle on which rests the legislation for the poor would be violated. It is for each parish to feed its O'wn poor. And yet the nation intervened at the time of the famine in Ireland. No matter. Mr. Monckton Milnes insists that this precedent should not be quoted as an autho rify. And he gives a sfrange reason for this. The Irish famine, according to him, was a fransient misfortune, whereas the crisis which overwhelms Lancashfre threatens to bear per manent results. In fact, thei results of this crisis wUl be permanent, if care be not taken. The dead do not come to Hfe again. LETTER XCVI. ME. COBDEN AND THE EIGHT OP BLOCKADE. October 26th, 1862. On Friday last Mr. Cobden delivered before a crowded meeting at Manchester a speech destined, as I think, to mark an epoch. The object of the meeting was the exami nation of the present state of international and maritime law, •with reference to the condition of the cotton districts in England. It is terrible, indeed, thefr condition. Of 352,240 heads of famUies whom tho cotton manufacture supplied with food, 129,414 have scarcely any work to do, while 143,172 have none at aU. Women and children included, there is at least 186 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. half-a-mUlion of human beings who live, if it can be caUed H^ving, between alms and famine. About fitfteenpence a head per week is all that parochial charify can do for these poor creatures, thanks to the English Poor Law. What anguish is repre sented in these flgures ! So much for the effects. As for the causes, who knows them not ? 'What has ruined, what starves, what reduces to despair, what slays in a manner more sure and more cruel than the cannon, these unfortunate artisans of Lancashfre, is the war in America. But could not the American war have broken out without producing such a lamentable result ? Was there any neces sary, or fatal, connection between this cause and this effect ? Yes. And why ? Solely because the international law in force at this day is a reUc of the ideas, usages, and manners, which constituted the barbarous age ; because it is stUl held, in spite of the so-much-vaunted progress of enlightenment, that when two nations engage in warfare, aU other nations must be condemned to suffer from thefr quarrel ; because it stUl seems right — monstrous idea ! — that the interest of beUi- gerents should be more considered than that of nations at peace ; because in this age of steam, electricity, and aU that tends to bring together the scattered members of the great human famUy, force has not yet ceased to command the respect which is due, but which is refused, to industry; because men have not yet come to understand that the sea belongs to aU nations aUke, as does the air, or the sun ; because the supreme question of the freedom of the seas stiU awaits its definitive solution ; because, in short, governments have not been wise enough to come to a mutual understanding to erase from the international code the right of blockade appHed to trading ports. To Mr. Cobden, who detests war, even more than his friend Mr. MUner Gibson, and almost as much as his friend Mr. Bright, the Lancashire disfress furnished a sadly favourable opportunify for proving to what a high degree the right of blockade, applied by beUigerents to trading ports is ruinous, unjust, and fooHsh. Who could better than himself drag such a subject into broad daylight? StUl, if I must say what I think, the demonstration did not nearly answer to my expec tations. Though of great length, his speech was far from MR. COBDEN AND THE RIGHT OP BLOCKADE. 187 exhausting the subject. The question was looked at under only one of its aspects, and in a manner too narrowly practical. Like aU men who excel in marshaUing facts, Mr. Cobden is led to pay too little attention to principles, and even in preaching the worship of the most elevated ideas, he is himself deficient in elevation. But that which would be a serious defect in France, — that country of generaUsation, — is regarded as a good quaHty in England, where the genius of analysis is far more highly appreciated than that of synthesis. Mr. Cobden is aware of this, and it may have been this which determined him in his choice of the arguments by which, on Friday last, he com bated the application of the right of blockade, in time of war, to the peaceful domains of labour. His reasoning was to the foUowing effect. I shaU endea vour to summarise it, 'without weakening its force : — " You are," said he to the EngHsh, " the ffrst maritime power in the world ; and because you are that, you beHeve it is for your interest to reserve to yourselves the right of block ading with your ships, in war time, the coasts of an enemy's counfry. But you do not see that you thereby invoke the help of a double-edged weapon, which it is impossible for you to hold without its wounding your hand. Let us suppose that you are at war with Russia. You derive from her hemp, linen, taUow, corn ; what would you gain by shutting up in the country which supplies you with them, the commodities with which you cannot dispense without inconvenience ? What happened at the time of the war in the Crimea ? Did France and England, when united against the Russians, hasten to place the Black Sea and the Sea of Azof in a state of blockade ? They took care to do nothing of the kind. The harvest had been bad in England, and stUl worse in France. It would therefore have been madness on the part of the two countries recklessly to cut off their supplies of grain. They understood it, and abstained from availing themselves of a right which would have been so prejudicial to them. The war broke out in the month of March, 1854, and it was not tUl the month of March, 1855, that a commercial interdict was placed upon the ports of the Sea of Azof and of the Black Sea. So true is it, that the right of blockade may become more fatal to the Power which exercises it, than tp 188 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. the one which is subjected to it ! And what reason is there to be surprised at this ? What characterises the nature of the ties with which commerce binds together different nations, is reciprocity. A nation which, like England, holds, speaking from the commercial point of view, aU other nations in dependence upon it, through that very fact is itself dependent upon aU other nations. The more industrious it is, the. more does it stand in need of raw material, markets, consumers: what interest, then, can it have in impeding navigation? And what blows can it inflict upon an enemy that will not reeoU upon itself ? Besides, the invention of raifroads has come in time to caU to order the maritime tyranny which formerly existed, and which has been too long exercised by means of blockade. If England and France were nowadays to go to war with one another, by what means would the former of these two Powers attempt to prevent the latter from receiving through Rotterdam or Hamburg the merchandise which it receives in time of peace through MarseUles or Havre? The blockade of all the coasts of France, were it reaUy effective, would avail nothing. Grotius, Vattel, and Puffendorf, when they drew up thefr learned treatises, reckoned without the genius of Watt ! The time has come to do away with these old-fashioned notions. Let us have the courage to give up the sea free to navigation, to industry, to peace] Let us have the courage to speak and to act, as if we belonged to our age." Such was the substance of Mr. Cobden's speech. You wUl observe that what he especiaUy laboured to estabHsh was the fact that the interest of England is not involved, as she imagines, in the maintenance of the right of blockade in the widest, most absolute, most strict acceptation of the word. This mode of tackUng the question, in such a counfry as this, is reaUy the best one. England is not naturaUy sentimental. Motives derived from pure philan thropy are not in general those which affect her most deeply. To convince her, you must show her clearly what she wUl gain by being convinced. Above aU was this necessary in the present instance. For in touching the foundation on which England down to the present day has rested her maritime sovereignty Mr. Cobden undertook, to his honour be it said, a formidable adventure. RECOGNITION OF THE SOUTH OPPOSED BY MR. COBDEN. 189 " A' naval Power like England," said Lord Palmerston on the 3rd February, 1862, "should never abandon any means of weakening its enemies at sea." Long before Lord Palmerston, the famous Pitt, in defending the right of search, exclaimed in Parliament: "Rather than permit a neutral flag to cover an enemy's cargo, I would en-wrap myself in the folds of our flag, and would seek glory at the bottom of the tomb." Such is the opinion, such are the sentiments, such is the language of England. Judge of the courage displayed by Mr. Cobden in saying in pubUc : " It is time to organise here, in favour of the absolute liberty of the seas, an agitation analogous to that of the Anti-Com-Law League ! " That such a proposition should be made in England, and by an EngUshman, shows better than any other thing could do, that there is a latent force in history which baffles the bUnd selfishness of indi-viduals. Mr. Cobden's speech, defective as it may appear from an absolutely critical point of view, is something more than a speech, something more than an act : it is a sign of the times. LETTER XCVII. THE RECOGNITION OP THE SOUTH OPPOSED BY MK. COBDEN. November 1st, 1862. Anothee speech by Mr. Cobden, and a very important one This time it was at Rochdale, in the presence of those who have returned him as their representative in ParUament, that the celebrated organiser of the Anti-Corn-law League, opened his lips and spoke. The haU, capable of containing 3000 individuals, was crowded to excess. A large number of manufacturers were present, whUe the artisans were there in a mass. The Mayor of the town occupied the chair. A Uvely emotion was depicted on every countenance. Mr. Cobden- was about to speak of the terrible scourge which has sfricken do-wn Rochdale, like so many other towns, alas! in the north of England. 190 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. A powerful inteUect is Mr. Cobden's. He has not, it is true, the geneAl aptitude or the eloquence at once charming aud subtle of Mr. Gladstone, nor the fascinating genius of Mr. Bright, nor the gently persuasive serenity of Lord Palmerston, nor the biting and sardonic talent of Mr. Disraeli, nor the penetrating gravity of Earl RusseU, nor the finesse of Mr. Milner Gi'bson ; but, on the other hand, in what a sovereign manner does he handle facts ! with Avhat ability does he present them ! And how weU he knows how to draw from them aU they contain of a nature to support his thesis ! Unfortunately, Mr. Cobden's inteUect is far from being as expansive, as supple, or as elevated, as it is vigorous. He is, above aU, a man of one idea. The idea itself is noble, grand, and just ; but Mr. Cobden is frequently in danger of rendering it unpopular because he wiU not grant that other ideas, which are reaUy of some value, are as iinportant as people consider them. For my part, I confess that I have always found many objections to urge against the maxim : Timeo hominem unius libri. In reality, aU questions mutuaUy throw Hght one upon another, and I doubt if it is possible to be thoroughly master of one if the whole attention be concentrated upon one in too exclusive and systematic a manner. This is precisely Mr. Cobden's weak point. The interest of commerce and, in order to insure that, peace at any price— this is the cfrcle out of which it is impossible to move him. It is useless to talk to him of the lamentable, but evident, necessity in which a people is placed to provide means for self-defence, when per manently menaced by neighbouring or rival nations ; forts, cannons, ammunition, muskets, make him sick at heart; he wUl not have them at any price. It is vain to quote to him the celebrated axiom, Si vis pacem, para bellum. According to him the only course to adopt, if you wish to avoid war, is to ignore danger. Once let it be admitted that human passions do not exist, and that we are aU beings governed by pure reason, Mr. Cobden wUl prove to perfection that if nations wUl exchange their products they wiU have no need to exchange broadsides, and that the latter form of reciprocity is absurd. But when some one is taking an aim at you, what is to be done? Measure out cloth by the yard ? As was pleasantly observed the other day in one of the London papers, the Hon and the RECOGNITION OF THE SOUTH OPPOSED BY MR. COBDEN. 191 sheep, in order to Uve together on terms of amity, would only, according to Mr. Cobden's theory, have to agree to give in exchange, the one the superfluity of his mane, the other the superfluity of his wool. No doubt, the sheep would be wiUing enough to lend himself to this amiable arrangement ; the difficulty would be to persuade the Hon ! In the speech deUvered by Mr. Cobden at Rochdale, nothing could be more sfriking than the first half, nothing less con clusive than the second. And why ? Because, in the first half of his harangue he had no occasion to go beyond his tether, which he had to do in the last half. It is indisputable that the distress in the cotton disfricts of England proceeds from the right of blockade appHed to trading ports ; that the abolition of this insensate and tyrannical right was, long before the breaking out of the present war, pro posed by the American Government, and rejected by that of England ; and that, consequently, England is merely expiating to-day the short-sightedness of her selfish poHcy. , It is equaUy certain that the recognition of the Southern States by England would remedy nothing, would repafr nothing. 'Would the North cease to blockade the Southern ports, be cause of the recognition of Southern independence ? ^ Not the least in the world. Cotton, therefore, would not return to the path which was closed to it by the war. If this recognition were foUowed up by a violent summons, addressed to the North to lay down its arms, on pain of being consfrained to do so by force in case of refusal, then, indeed, there would be some sense in that recognition. But is England prepared to undertake such an adventure ? This question, it must be admitted, was set forth by Mr. Cobden with great authorify ; nor had he much trouble in proving that the de claration of war by England against the Northern States, even at the present juncture, woiUd be an act of foUy. . The fact is, that at a period when America contained scarcely more than two and a half miUions of inhabitants, she was able to hold her o-wn against England. How would it be, then, now ? It is idle to object that the North has afready a ci-sil war on its hands ; history teaches us what an increase of energy is given to a people under such cfrcumstances by the horror of foreign intervention. When France drew from her despair power to overwhelm coalesced Europe, was not her 192 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. bosom torn by the most cruel civil war that was ever kno-wn ? Was not La Vendee in arms, and furious ? Did not revolt blaze throughout the South ? Had not the fire broken out at Lyons, the second city in the kingdom ? And from the one end of France to the other, was not the ground undermined by plots ? WiU it be urged that such prodigies are not possible a second time ? Who knows ? In its sfruggle with the South, the North has displayed such an indomitable force of -wiU, such an extraordinary extent of resources, that he must be a bold man who would trace, beforehand, a limit to the efforts of such a people, defending their Hves and seized with fury. Mr. Cobden was right in the remark he made, that an armed intervention in America would have the inevitable result of putting an end to the factions which enfeeble the North, and of augmenting its force a hundredfold. And then, if the eight or ten millions of people who in habit the vaUey of the Mississippi, of the States of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, lUinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, are resolute to continue the war, would it be very easy for an armed intervention to reach them, or to ascend a river like the Mississippi to impose peace upon them ? It is little Hkely, in any case, that the cheapness of the enterprise would com pensate for its dangers ; and Mr. Cobden was scarcely guUfy of a hyperbole when he exclaimed : " Seek for cotton sword in hand, great Heaven ! It would cost less to put the entfre population of the cotton districts on a dietary of turtle- soup, champagne, and venison !" There is another point in this speech to which I think it is right to allude in terms of praise before touching upon that which appears to me to merit blame. Mr. Cobden roughly attacked Lord Palmerston ; he reproached him with not belonging to the party at the head of which he figures ; he recaUed to mind, not without bitterness, that not one of the promises which had preceded the accession to power of the present Premier had been fulfilled ; and he announced his intention of breaking with the Government, if the promised reforms continued to be regarded as a dead letter. It is certain that Lord Palmerston is, in fact, — strange to say — a Tory chosen to lead the "Whigs. It thence results, according to tiie happy expression of Mr. Cobden, that the Conservatives MK. COBDEN'S WEAK POINT. 193 are in power without being in office. They have the advan tages of power -without having its responsibilities. It is a situation more than abnormal : it is a calumny upon repre sentative institutions. I postpone tiU to-morrow — not to occupy too great a space in your columns — the examination of another part of Mr. Cobden's speech. LETTER XCVIIL WHAT DOES NOT DISQUIET ME. COBDEN, DISQUIETS ENGLAND. November 1st, 1862. Ip you knew that the man who occupies a chamber next to your own, took pleasure in smoking a pipe over a barrel of gunpowder, I feel sure that you would be somewhat anxious about his movements. He might declare as much as he liked that he did not mean any harm, that he had not the slightest wish to blow ^lp the house, that such a supposition was absurd, because, in that case, he would himself be the first victim : either I am much mistaken, or these fine declara tions and powerful arguments would lose their effect, so long as there remained there the barrel of gunpowder and the lighted pipe. WeU, a French army of five to six hundred thousand men, ready to take the field, in a moment, at a sign from one man, — at a glance from his eye, — at the first contraction of his brows, seems to England a danger quite as great and not less imminent than the one of which I have been speak ing. But this is what Mr. Cobden is incapable of compre hending, blinded as he is by his fixed idea : peace at any price in the interest of free trade. There was a time, and that not so very long ago, when Mr. Cobden, as a very sincere Liberal, decidedly withheld his confidence from the Imperial regime. But Mr. Cobden has been in prance, and was weU received by the official autho rities. ObHging hands thre 7 open to him wide the gates of 194 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. the arsenals. He was aUowed to visit the ship-building yards. He was enabled to examine, as closely as he pleased, the movement of the ports. He has been in communication with M. Michel ChevaUer. He has conversed familiarly witii the Emperor. What more need I say? He has brought back with him from his voyage across the Channel — what ? A great thing, in truth : a commercial treaty between France and England; a commercial treaty in which is consecrated the principle so dear to Mr. Cobden, and the absolute triumph of which has been the dream of his entire life, that of free trade. It needed nothing more to upset all the notions of the English economist upon the empire. In Napoleon he has seen only a disciple. At this moment, such is Mr. Cobden's confidence, that he beHeves that a free-trader who wears a crown is incapable of cherishing warlike ideas; so that England, if she would only listen to him, might at once, without delay, raze her forts, melt down her cannon, disband her troops, replace her ships of war by merchant vessels, and laugh at her volunteers. What he cannot pardon in the EngHsh are the precautions they take against the danger of an attack which they regard, if not as certain, at least as possible. What he cannot pardon in Lord Palmerston is, his sharing in this respect the distrust of his compatriots. Even at the close of the last ParUamentary session, Mr. Cobden roughly took the Premier to task, and accused . him of keeping up in men's minds a chimerical fear of invasion, of la-vishing England's wealth on useless arma ments, and of making use of ridiculous terrors as stepping- stones to popularity. Why shotUd so many mUHons of pounds sterUng be expended upon the army, the navy, the fortifications, the defence of the coasts ? As if the idea of invasion were anything more than one of those -windmUls against which Don Quixote' couched his lance ! As if it were not madness to imagine the possibUity of hostile designs on the part of the free-trader Napoleon ! As if he had not a thousand times declared his pacific intentions ! He, the Emperor of the French, ever draw a sword against England I TeU that to the marines ! If Lord Palmerston pretended to believe it, it was because he had his o-wn reasons for that. Did he not find in these skilfuUy-fanned apprehensions a con- MR. COBDEN'S WEAK POINT. 195 venient mode of covering the extravagancies of his policy, end of attitudinising as a great patriot ? To this effect did Mr. Cobden express himself at the close of the Parliamentary session, and he added, with bitterness, - — " Lord Palmerston alone has cost the English people one hundred miUions sterUng. Whatever be the noble lord's merit, it is somewhat dear ! " This thesis Mr. Cobden resumed in the speech which he delivered at Rochdale. He combated, with animation not exempt from iU-temper, the anxiety awakened in England by the activity imparted, ever since the establishment of the empire, to the armanjents of France ; and as usual, the arguments which he marshaUed in the front line of his battle, were figures. After stating that in 1835, under the minisfry of Sir Robert Peel and the Duke of WelUngton, the military and naval establishments of Great Britain did not cost more than twelve mUlions sterHng per annum, Mr. Cobden drew attention to the fact that, for these same objects, the expenditure is now nearly triple, that is to say, thirfy millions sterling. And there upon he triumphantly exclaimed: — "What more need be said ? Were the Duke of WeUington and Sir Robert Peel, peradventure, bad pafriots ? " No, sfr. Sfr Robert Peel and the Duke of WeUington were not bad patriots ; but there is a thing of which you inust be reminded, since you have so completely forgotten, it. In 1835, France was under a constitutional govemment. Parliament, which is made for speaking, spoke. The press wore no handcuffs. On the other side of the Channel there was a public opinion which could be interrogated, and which had the right of replying. At that epoch, a war could not have been declared until after long discussions in the papers and in the Chambers. It could not have taken place without the openly avowed approval of the country. Consequently, England had every conceivable means of feeling the pulse of the French people, of knowing beforehand what she had to hope or fear, of parrying the danger, or of preparing to meet it. She had nothing to fear from surprises, from unexpected attacks. She was not exposed to see a man, ¦without other control than his o-svn wUl, set the world on fire. Who . does not remember the astonishing rapidity with which France o 2 196 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. passed from a state of peace to a state of war, the day when the Emperor of the French conceived the whim of teaching the Austrians how the Zouaves kiU thefr feUow-men? A few harsh words, dropped from the Imperial lips, and addressed to the Austrian am"bassador, sufficed to give a shock to Europe ; and the sequel proved that her emotion was not iU-founded, for hardly does the thunder foUow more closely upon the flash. Would that have been possible in 1835? At that period, then, the Duke of WeUington and Sir Robert Peel were perfectly justified ih sleeping in peace, which Lord Palmer ston believes he cannot now do without faiUng in prudence. Mr. Cobden denies that the EngHsh have any reason to be alarmed about the armaments of France ; but he him self admits .that, in 1835, the expenditure of the French govemment in its building-yards was only £343,032, whereas in 1859, it was £772,931. The increase is surely worthy of attention. It is true that, in the corresponding interval, the efforts of England have been stiU greater, since her expendi ture in the dockyards has risen from £376,377 to £1,582,112. But what is the conclusion to be derived from that ? That England does not shrink from any sacrifice to place herself in a state of defence, so keen is her disquietude, so profound her distrust ? Doubtless. Only, that is not the question : the point at issue is, has she any reason, or not, for remaining on the ' alert ? Now, in aU England, there are probably only two men, Mr. Cobden and the illustrious Quaker, his friend Mr. Bright, who, on this subject, differ in opinion from Lord Palmerston. The reason is very simple. A country where aU is light cannot trust a country where aU is darkness. A govem ment that di-vulges, and is obliged to divulge, to the world its innermost thoughts, cannot confide in a govemment whose decisions are a mystery, and the seat of which may be said to be placed in the brain of one man. In vain does Napoleon lavish his specific assurances ; in vain does Mr. Cobden offer himself as a guarantee for the sincerity of these assurances : there is here a fact which is more conclusive than any declar ration or any comment — France is under the government of one man. The intentions of a sovereign who disposes as he pleases of 600,000 soldiers, let them be ever so pacific to-day, who . shaU dare answer that they wiU not be warlike to morrow? This does not disturb Mr. Cobden, but it does A VACANT THRONE. 197 disturb England. She lets him talk, therefore; she even applauds him when he does not reproach her for her prudence. But those whom she foUows, are those who say to her, after the manner of CromweU : — " Trust in God, and keep your powder dry." LETTER XCIX. A VACANT THEONE : CANDIDATUEE OF PEINCE ALPEED. November 5th, 1862. The revolution which has been effected in Greece has naturaUy produced a Uvely sensation among the Greeks re siding in London. Thefr number is not very great ; but they are in general very active, very energetic, very enterprising, thorough men of business, and therefore rich. Under this head, they form a class here whose influence is not to be Hghtly esteemed. The frade in corn and the trade in the exports of the Levant being partly in their hands, whatever is of a nature to affect the Eastern question interests them from the double point of -view of merchant and patriot. At the time of the Crimean war, there is no doubt their sympathies were for Russia, and they did not disguise the fact. To such a degree, indeed, was this the case, that the Exchange and Mark Lane were offended. The Greek mer chants narrowly escaped being exposed to personal violence, with such -vivacify did they express their wishes in favour of the power against whom the English people were engaged in hostiHties. What wiU be thefr attitude when the revolution of Greece shall have decidedly settled down ? That -wUl de pend upon the turn events may take. ' It is certain, however, that the Greeks here show them selves as weU disposed in favour of England as they are deUghted to see Otho's throne at length vacant. It would be in no way disagreeable to them if the throne were occupied by Prince Alfred. They consider that the election of a prince of the house of England, besides guaranteeing the mainte- aance of constitutional Uberfy in their country, would secure 198 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. the moral, if not the material, support of a powerful nation for the new and briUiant destinies they are already dream ing for Greece. They think, too, that after ha-ving made the present of a crown to an EngHsh prince, the Greeks would be in' a better position to insist upon the restitutiop of the Ionian Islands, which England persists in protecting, though they, for their part, have no -wish to be protected and never cease saying : — " Mais moi, si je veux qu'on me batte ? " Be that as it may, the idea of the candidature of Prince Alfred does not appear to be very successful in England. In the first place, the offer is not looked upon as a very flattering one. I have heard inhabitants of this monster cify, which they caU London, exclaim, with a shrug ofthe shoulders: "A fine present to make to the younger son of our Queen ! A kingdom, the population of which scarcely equals that of some parishes of London ! " But this is not the argument of serious thinkers. What seems to trouble men's minds is a vague fear lest England, with Prince Alfred upon the throne of Greece, might happen to become more involved than is desirable in the imbrogUo of the Eastern question. In fact, what England wishes before aU, and is interested in wishing, is the preservation of this poor Turkish empfre, which Russia is always threatening to swaUdw up. When an EngHsh traveUer on the southern roads of Russia comes to a sign-post bearing the words : "To Stamboul," what he reads with a feeling of horror and affright is : " To India." Now, the time may come when it wiU not be an easy matter to protect at the same time Turkey and Greece, the Crescent and the Cross. It is impossible that Greece, regene rated, should not aspire to deHver by force from the Turkish yoke the Greeks who people Albania and Thessaly ; and it is not less impossible that Turkey should consent, unless con strained by superior might, to abandon those rich provinces. This situation contains the germ of considerable complica tions. The proof is, that at the first news of the revolution of Greece, Turkey lost no tiine in despatching troops towards the frontiers of Albania. Add to this, that Russian agents will not fail to fan the flame. A conflict in which Russia, by teiking the part of the Greeks against the Turks, would have A VAGANT THRONE. 199 the appearance of defending the Cross against the Crescent, would forward immensely the reaUsation of the project which the govemment at St. Petersburg has never ceased, since the time of Peter the Great, to fondle with complacency, and to proSiCcute. But it may be imagined what, under such cfr cumstances, would be the embarrassment of England, inter ested in placing herself on the side of her proteges, the Mussulmans, against the country to which she had given a king in a son of the Queen of England. Would it not be better to reserve for herself the power of acting as she thinks proper at the right time, and to remain 'with her hands free ? Such is the aspect under which the question presents itself to those who reflect^ and thefr number is great, in this country of Uberfy.There are many other objections to the candidature of Prince Alfred : his youth, his religion, and the Treaty of 1831, by which the election of an EngHsh, Russian, or French prince is formaUy interdicted. But why enumerate aU the motives, when one is enough ? We may here repeat, as the Daily Telegraph did yesterday, the anecdote of Elizabeth visiting Falmouth, and dispensing the magistrates of the town from setting forth the thfrty-three reasons on account of which, said they, they had given no orders for ringing the bells, the first one being that they had no beUs. In short. Prince Alfred, if pubUc opinion be consulted in this matter, 'wiU leave the Greeks to themselves, and, if a crown tempts him, wiU go and look for one elsewhere. Besides, is there not a bevy of candidates ? Is there not Prince Alexander Mavrocordato, the hero of Missolonghi, the most Ulustrious of the feUow- workers of Capo d'Istria, and who, though 71 years of age, has lost nothing, it is said, of the vigour of manhood ? Is there not Prince Gregory Ypsi- lanti, nephew of Alexander YpsUanti, the chosen one of 1820, and descending in a straight line from the Emperors of Con stantinople ? Is there not the Duke de Leuchtenberg, son of the Grand-Duchess Mary, and grandson of the Czar Nicolas of Russia? Lastly, is there not Prince Amadeus of Italy, whose candidature is actively promoted by a Greco-Italian committee, sitting at Palermo and Naples, although the can didate is stiU without a beard, ha'ving barely attained his seventeenth year ? There is, assuredly, no lack of choice, if 200 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. the Greeks must positively have a king, after the somewhat discouraging experiment they have afready made. For we must render this' justice to Otho, that never did a monarch more completely succeed in curing a people of the error of idolafry ; and the touching unanimity with which his right to withdraw was recognised is almost an historical phenomenon. I need not teU you that of aU the princes I have enume rated, the one who would have the smaUest chance of being acceptable to the EngHsh, is the Duke de Leuchtenberg. There are two reasons for that. The first is the tie which attaches him to Russia, and this first reason renders it unnecessary for me to mention the second,- — but perhaps you may prefer that I should speak out plainly. WeU, then, the Duke de Leuchtenberg possesses, in the eyes of the English, a greater fault than that of being the nephew of the present Emperor of AU the Russias ; it is that of being the great-grandson of Josephine, and of belong ing to the Bonaparte famUy. What renders the matter more serious, is a certain rumour, which speaks ^of the marriage of this tall handsome young man '•(vith the Princess Anna Murat. But I leave to professed Dangeaux (" Jenkins ") the frouble of entering into fuUer details on this subject, and I come abruptly to the speech which Mr. Cobden has deUvered at Rochdale. You have placed before your readers some saUent passages of this speech, and you were quite right to do so. StiU, if you have not yet lost aU recollection of a long letter which I addressed to you, at the close of the ParUamentary session, the perusal of Mr. Cobden's last harangue must have sfruck you much as a sudden meeting with an old acquaintance would do. The truth is, that the peace-loving agitator has simply repeated, and nearly word for word, what he said not very long ago in the House of Commons. He reproached Lord Palmerston with having cost much, ay, too much, to the EngHsh nation ; he reproached him with keeping up in the counfry fanciful alarms to cover a fooHsh expenditure ; he reproached him with dipping, without scruple, into the pockets of the tax-payers, under the pretext that the country is in danger, and in order to attitudinise as a A VACANT THRONE. 201 V great pafriot ; he reproached him •with figuring at the head of the Liberal Party, him, a Conservative at heart and a Tory to the backbone ; he reproached him — With what did he not reproach him ? On all that I have afready expressed my opinion. I have therefore to spare you my comments, and confine myself to pointing out to you a passage in this speech which is worth some reflection. Mr. Cobden is a Unionist in what concerns America. He beUeves in the ultimate friumph of the North, and he prays for it with his whole heart. But his opinion and sentiments on this point do not arise — as he himself has expressly stated — ^from any liking for great States. "The empfres which I prefer," he said, " are not those which embrace a vast extent of territory ; but those in which the faculties of man, as a man, are the most largely developed." In this Mr. Cobden was right, a hundred times right. What, in fact, did the gigantic empires of Persia, Assyria, &c., add to the inteUectual possessions of humanify ? On the other hand, let us take Itsdy in the Middle Ages, or Greece in ancient times ; what treasures under the head of science, of phUosophy, of art, of literature, have not those little States bequeathed to the famUy of nations ? The native land of Phidias, of Plato, of Socrates, of Aristotle, of Pericles, never occupied upon the map anything more than a microscopic place ; and yet what a space it has fiUed in the memory of man ! Yes, what furnishes the true standard of the stature of a people, is the degree of inteUigence to which it attains ; and stiU more the respect sho'wn by it to human dignity. The truly great nations are those which march to the conquest of the world by the elevation of thefr sentiments, the justness of their ideas, the infiuence of thefr Uterature, the wisdom of thefr institutions, and the permanent prosperity which is consequent upon the veneration for justice that is inseparable from liberty. No one is ever sufficiently artful to be certain that he wUl not, sooner or later, meet with some one more artful than himself ; no one is ever strong enough to be always the strongest ; and this is why the success due to art and force is ephemeral. A population of slaves, whether armed or not, robust or feeble, capable or incapable of making others share the 202 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. burden they bear, is a population of chUdren : there are no genuine nations but those that are composed of men. LETTER C. A LEAP DETACHED PEOM THE HISTOEY OP THE MEXICAN EXPEDITION. November 1th, 1862. The publication of the despatches sent from Vera Cruz by General Forey has passed almost without notfce in England, at least so far as I have been able to judge. It is not that the EngHsh do not foUow with an anxious eye the movements of France in Mexico ; but, in the first place, their attention is more forcibly drawn towards Rome ; and, secondly, simple - changes of individuals seem to them of very secondary interest, on a stage where poHtical men are merely puppets, who are replaced by others from, time to time, without any other motive than to vary the spectacle. The truth is, that if the despatches in question announce a certain modification of the views of the French Govemment in reference to Mexico, it is in a very indfrect manner. It does not appear, to judge by the proclamation of the new Com mander-in-Chief, that in high quarters there is any intention of abandoning the project of regenerating Mexico by means of universal suffrage, conducted in a military fashion. In the eyes of certain individuals, this unfortunate Juarez, honest man as he is, possesses, it seems, the enormous fault of professing the principles of an enlightened UberaUsm, and of figuring at the head of a Liberal Government. Besides, which is the party that is opposed to him ? Is it not that which styles itself the Church Party ? It is true that Padre Miranda is described in a despatch of the EngHsh Commodore, Hugh Dunlop, as a gloomy and cruel fanatic, who has on his hands a large share bf the blood treacherously shed in Mexico by the reactionists ; it is true that the pretended Church Party in Mexico is a coUection of THE HISTORY OF THE MEXICAN EXPEDITION. 203 men whom even the old Spanish Inquisition would have disavowed ; it is true that the hero of this party is a man stained with blood ; it is true that it was by this party that the cry, " Death to Foreigners ! " has aU along been uttered;. and it was through the acts of violence, of robbery, and o.f assassination committed by this party, that was brought about, last year, the coUective intervention of France, England, and Spain. But is it not right that treasures of indulgence should be kept in reserve for the peccadiUoes of those who oppose to the standard of Hberty, daughter of a false philosophy, the sacred standard of religion, such as PhUip II. of Spain understood, and such as was served by the Duke of Alva ? This being premised, I confess that, for my part, I read with pleasure the despatches with which the Moniteur has at last thought fit to gratify public curiosity. It thence results : 1st, that General Almonte has at length been set aside; 2ndly, that Count Dubois de SaUgny is condemned to the chagrin of a subaltern part. Under this double head, pubHc opinion has reason to be satisfied, and the French Government may be congratulated with a clear conscience. In the first place, nothing was more urgent than the dis missal of General Almonte, — a dismissal for which it is only fair to render thanks to the Imperial Government, even if it did not imply any radical change in its poUcy with respect to Mexico. Everyone knows what was the effect of the arrival of General Almonte at Vera Cruz, where, from being a pro scribed man, he pretended to assume the airs of a master, of course under the French protection, and as the trusty friend of the Emperor. UntU that moment a perfect understanding had existed between the Commissioners of the three nations. General Prim, in the name of Spain ; Sfr Charles Wyke and Commodore Dunlop, in the name of England ; A^lmiral Jurien de la .Graviere and M. Dubois de SaUgny, in the name of France, appeared to be aU thoroughly satisfied •with the necessity of not going beyond the object of the Expedition, which was, in the terms of the original Convention, to obtain reparation for damages sustained by foreign residents : nothing less, but nothing more. It was upon this basis that General Prim had placed the question in an interview he had with the Mexican Minister, General Doblado, ia whom, be it said, he 204 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. found a man of a very cultivated mind, of a very conciliatory disposition, and of exceUent manners. General Doblado's reply to the demands presented by General Prim had been very satisfactory, and the favourable impression made by him upon the Spanish Commissioner the latter fancied he had conveyed to his French as weU as to his English coUeagues. . Already negotiations had been opened of an eminently peaceful character, and everything announced a happy conclusion. But lo ! General Almonte arrives, accompanied by Father Miranda. His presence, under the French protection, on a soil from which he had been banished as a rebel, was in itself a sort of decla ration of war against the Mexican Govemment. And what does the new-comer do ? He appUes himself to proclaiming aloud the downfall of the Power with whom the three nations are negotiating; he declares himself accredited by- the Eni- peror of the French ; he announces himself as the instrument of the regeneration of Mexico ; he openly sets forth the candidature of the Archduke MaximiUan of Austria to the throne of Mexico, without froubling himself about the Mexi cans, who want neither an archduke nor a monarchy. There upon the Spanish Commissioner, General Prim, and the English Commissioners, Sir Charles Wyke and Commodore Dunlop, testify thefr surprise — not to say their dissatisfaction ; they protest against the altogether new motive thus assigned to the expedition undertaken in common ; they refer to the formal terms of the Convention which unites the three Powers ; they point out how frregular it is to protect men who talk of over throwing, sword in hand, a Govemment with which they are in treaty, and which is ready to concede what is demanded of it; they insist that Almonte and his companions be sent away. Vain efforts ! A bond difficult to loose exists between the protectors and the protected. So Spain and England, unable to obtain anything, withdraw together. So much for the part played in Mexico by General Almonte. As for that played by Count Dubois de SaUgny, I have from a very good source — in fact, it would be impossible to imagine a" better — certain information of a very intimate, very charac teristic, and very piquant nature. I must, first of aU, teU you that Count Dubois de SaUgny is to be regarded as the soul of the movements which have brought about the invasion of Mexico. THE HISTORY OF THE MEXICAN EXPEDITION. 205 That the persistent hostility displayed by M. Dubois de SaUgny towards the Mexican Government had its source in feelings of personal resentment, is more than I could venture to say ; but it appears certain ' that, far from being popular in Mexico, M. Dubois de SaUgny, whether it was his own fault or not, has been on various occasions the butt of envenomed attacks on the part of the •wits of that country. Among the caricatures directed against him, the one that must most particularly have stung him,- was that which repre sented him issuing from a bottle. It is beyond aU question that Juarez and the party who placed him in power have had no more persevering, no more implacable enemy. Sir Charles Lennox Wyke, sent to Mexico by Great Britain as Minister Plenipotentiary, as successor to Mr. Mathew, likewise exhibited much temper and intolerance at the beginning ; and this cannot be disputed, with the coUection of despatches relating to Mexico, published by the English Government, lying before one's eyes ; but this justice is due to Sir C. Lennox Wyke, that he was not long in getting the better of his first impressions. A careful examination of the state of affairs and opinions in Mexico soon convinced him that the e^vils which had desolated that fine country were the work of the reactionary party ; that the Government of Juarez was, after aU, the truest expression of the wishes of the nation, and the only national government which it coiUd expect ; that to the reactionary party were imputable aU the excesses, aU the robberies, aU the murders from which the foreign residents in Mexico had suffered ; and that, if it were strictly conform able to the law of nations to hold the existing Power answer able for the misdeeds of its predecessor, it was at least only fair not to seize it by the throat, but, as soon as it showed proofs of its good wUl, to give it time to look around. As for Admiral Jurien de la Graviere, his conduct, from the day he set foot in Mexico, seems to have been that of a weU- intentioned -man, fuU of rectitude, and accessible to sentiments which originate in the conscience, but of a feeble character, and desirous overmuch of not aUowing any doubt to arise as to his complete devotedness to the Emperor. With regard to General Prim's views there was never any mystery. When he arrived in Mexico, his great anxiety was to obtain from the Mexican Government reasonable satisfao- 2,05 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. tion, while looking upon force of arms as the last means to be adopted. General Prim was not ignorant how deeply-rooted in the heart of the Mexican people was their hatred of the Spaniards, and he thought rightly that it was his duty to lessen its effects, and, as far as possible, stop its source. It was this disposition, misinterpreted, or, to speak out plainly, calumniated, which gave rise to the suspicion that General Prim coveted the throne of Mexico for him self. He has himself repeUed this imputation with an energy which dispenses me with furnishing any additional proof. It was he, you •wiU remember, who took the lead when once the joint expedition of France, Great Britain, and Spain was determined upon. The object of this expedition, as it is most clearly and concisely set forth in the convention of the 31st October, 1 86 1, was to obtain from the Mexican Govemment redress for certain acts of which the foreign residents, English, French and Spanish, had to complain — acts of violence and spoliation, the authors of which, parentheticaUy be it said, were no other than Miramon, Marquez, Miranda, — that is to say, the very enemies of the Govemment from .which redress was demanded ! Of overthrowing Juarez, of putting an end to the rule of the Liberal parfy, of substituting a monar chical for a republican form of government, there waS not one word. Lord RusseU's policy, in fact, was diametricaUy opposed to aU attempt at intervention in the internal affairs of Mexico, and these •views of the Cabinet of St. James's were adopted by the Cabinet of Madrid. It was in conformify with this under standing, that General Prim drew up in January, 1862, the sketch of a proclamation, to which, after a few sUght modifi cations, he obtained the assent of his French and English coUeagues at their first meeting, which took place on the 16th of January, 1862. The tone of this proclamation was in the highest degree conciUatory. All idea of war was excluded from it. Peace uttered in it her most gentle, and, I might add, her most noble language. It was, as I have afready mentioned, unanimously accepted, after a most careful dis cussion, and with some trifling alterations ; -it was conse quently printed, and published with the signatures of aU the Commissioners : C. Lennox Wyke, E. Jurien de la Graviere, THE HISTORY OP THE MEXICAN EXPEDITION. 207 Hugh Dunlop, Dubois de SaUgny, and General Prim, Count de Reuss. What, think you, happened after that ? A few days had scarcely elapsed when General Prim got •wind of certain strange rumours relating to M. Dubois de Saligny. Not only, it was said, did the French negotiator express in formal terms his disapproval of the proclamation, but he affirmed that he did not, in any degree, accept the responsibUity,- seeing that he had not signed it. What? Why, it had been published with his signature to it ! The document which none of the Commissioners had disclaimed was, then, a forgery ! These rumours, a vague echo of which had reached his ears, appeared to General Prim so absurd, that at first he only laughed at them. But one day, when he was talking- • about the proclamation to a Spanish officer of rank. Brigadier Milans, the latter remarked : " It was not signed by M. Dubois de SaUgny." "What do you mean by that?" exclaimed General Prim, whose blood began to boil. "I mean," repUed the Spanish officer, "that so M. Dubois de Saligny affirmed in my presence." " This is top bad ! It is impossible ! " " If you doubt it, General, there is the French Commandant Roze, who can confirm my stateinent, for he was present at the time." The French Commandant, on being questioned, confirmed the story told by the Spanish officer. An explanation then became necessary. It was demanded of M. Dubois de SaUgny by Sir C. Lennox Wyke and General Prim. The latter no sooner beheld the French Commissioner than he exclaimed impetuously; "Is it true, sfr, that you have asserted that you did not sign the proclamation?" " Without doubt, I have asserted it," calmly replied M. Dubois de SaUgny. " What ! You did not " The eyes of the Spanish General flashed fire, and his clenched hand tightly grasped the back of a chafr that stood before him. " Certainly," resumed the French Commissioner, " I did not sign that declaration. Neither did you yourself. General, 203 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. sign it. Nor was it signed by either of these gentlemen," — pointing to Sir C. Wyke and Commodore Dunlop. " Oh ! I understand now, sir," murmured General Prim, with a choking voice and bitter smUe. The fact is, the proclamation had been discussed by aU the Commissioners, including M. Dubois de Saligny; had been adopted by them, sent to the press, and published ; but it had been thought unnecessary to afiix the signatures to the manuscript ! You will, perhaps, insist upon knowing from whom I received these details. Well, I received them from General Prim himself. LETTER CI. THE ENGLISH AND THE CONPEDEEATES. November 20th, 1862. Oh ! how easily instinct triumphs over reason, even among the most enlightened nations ! If there be a country that can caU itself inteUigent and reflective, it is assuredly England. In this country, which has so much to complain of as regards the sun, there exists, in any case, an inteUectual sun whose absence is rarely to be felt, and which is prodigal of Hght. What a permanent flood of pubUcity ! What a host of journals, and for those journals what a host of readers ! How many minds employed every morning in searching into all the nooks and comers of any given question ! And yet, let instinct happen to lift up its voice, fareweU to logic ! fareweU to reason ! fareweU to the sun ! Look, for instance, at the state of pubUc opinion in this country with respect to America ! What can be more ab surd than the excess of the sympathies of the English people for the South ? England, who abolished slavery in her own colonies, and who chases over every sea the dealers in human flesh, seized -with tenderness for owners of men ! England, who cUngs to the preservation of Canada, recklessly heaping up against herself, in the heart of the Federals, an accumula tion of revenge ! England, who frembles at the idea of THE ENGLISH AND THE CONFEDERATES. 209 seeing her Govemment intervene between the two parties, intervening by means of nearly aU her journals, nearly aU her reviews, nearly aU her organs, and exposing herself to suffer hereafter the consequences of such a moral violation of neutrality, without gathering any of the advantages which might accrue to her from an official, direct, and bold violation of this same neufraUty ! Is not that a singular spectacle ? It would be vain to endeavour to explain the attraction of the English towards the South by the magical question of markets. It is not by purposely exaggerating the successes of the Confederates ; by faUing into ecstasies on every possible occasion about the incomparable valour of their armies, the genius of their statesmen, the marveUous abUity of their generals, the admirable truthfulness of thefr buUetins ; or by speaking with systematic contempt of the Federals, whether with reference to the temperament of their soldiers, the mUi tary science of their generals, the capacity of thefr adminis trators and financiers, or the veracity of thefr reports; it is not by, approving everything in reference to the South, or of blaming everything in reference to the North, that they will ever give cotton to manufacture, and bread to eat to the operatives of Lancashire. Besides, there is in the sympathies manifested for the South in England something more than an interested calculation, there is a passionate, unthinking infatuation, and, as I said before, a real tenderness of heart. Do you ask of me whence comes that ? It comes from two fruitful sources which, in England, are never dry : aristocratic instinct and national selfishness. In the eyes of the English, the quarrel which stains the New World with blood is nothing else than a sfruggle between the EngHsh aristocracy and , the Irish or German plebeians. In the men of the South they love and admfre, rightly or 'wrongly, thefr own race ; in the men of the North they detest what they regard as a confused mix ture of foreigners. For them, the "gentlemen" are in one camp, and the "cads" in the other. And as the "cad" here is profoundly despised, especiaUy by the " cad," the feeUng which I describe is, with the exception of the working- classes, that of England. It is unnecessary for me to point out to you that such an instinct is inevitably bUnd, unreasonable, and unjust. Be vol;. II. p 210 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. not surprised, then, that the news of the electoral victories gained in the North by the democrats over the republicans, that is, by those of the Federals who compound with slavery over those who wiU no longer permit it, has been here a subject of rejoicing. Yes, such is the vehemence of the sen timent which impels pubUc opinion to take part with the South, that England gives her good wishes to the American democrats, solely because she beHeves them more disposed than the other party to come to an understanding with the planters. Setting aside this miserable consideration, what, I should Uke to know, are the titles of the American democrats to the sympathies of England ? Was it not from their camp that the most violent attacks upon England have always issued ? Was it not by them that the Monroe doctrine has always been most haughtily proclaimed ? Was it not in their ranks that were found the most ardent apostles of the invasion of Cuba, of the invasion of Canada, of the annexation of Mexico ? Was it not to them that was due the odious and shameful law relating to the extradition of fugitive slaves ? I am not aware that any of these motives are of a nature to render the American democrats dear to the English people. But, I repeat it, they are regarded as better disposed than thefr opponents, the republicans, to hold out a friendly hand to the South. There is the secret. But there, Ukewise, is the mistake. Quite as passionately as the republicans do the democrats desire the restoration of the Union : quite as passionately as the repubUcans do the democrats desire an American nation sufficiently compact, sufficiently powerful, and sfrongly enough organised, to lay down the law to the Old World. If any one doubt this, let him read their manifestoes. The only difference between them and their opponents Is that they ¦aspire to re-establish the Union on the basis of slavery, whUe the republicans aspire to its re-establishment on the basis bf free labour. Is that the reason which prompts England to hail the electoral victory, frue or false, of the former over the latter ? There is no EngUshman, I dare say, who would venture to avow that ; and I may add, to the honour of this great country, that there is no one who would venture to avow that even to himself. But human nature is so con- THE ENGLISH AND THE CONFEDERATES. 211 stituted that it invents, when it wishes to deceive itself, all sorts of plausible pretexts, which it palms off upon itself with a sincerify that would be laughable were it not lamentable. In the present instance, what can be more legitimate than the pretext put forward — the interest of peace ? If the democrats triumph, thefr tolerance with regard to slavery renders a reconciliation possible, and what Christian would not rejoice at the idea of at last beholding the disappearance of the pestUent quarrel so fatal to both hemispheres ? After this fashion do honest folks argue who need absolutely to be the dupes of their reason, that they may not have to settle •with their conscience. But they do not see, first of aU, that thefr hope is chimerical, because the North would never accept a compromise which would amount to the absolute triumph of the South ; secondly, that their hope shows want of inteUi gence, because the Union restored by means of the democratic principle would not be a minor poHtical embarrassment for England than the Union restored by means of the repubUcan principle ; and lastly, that their hope would be immoral, were they to give an exact account of it to themselves, because the Union, restored on the basis of slavery, would insure a sinister importance and permanence to that ownership of man by man, which is the disgrace of modern civiUsation, as it is at this mcmient also its cancer. Another singularity, showing to what an extent pubUc opinion -in England has divorced itself from logic in the American question. No doubt the mediation proposed by the French Govern ment, and refused by the Russian Government, would be advantageous to the South. In reaUty, an armistice in the present conjuncture would be the victory of the South over the North. An armistice, in fact, would give the South, by permitting it to seU its cotton crop, the means of procuring - money, which it would naturaUy apply in supplying itself with arms, muskets, steamboats — everything it needs for continuing the war with vigour as soon as hostUities are again resumed; wHUe, on the other hand, the finances of the North would be exhausted in keeping up the armaments which afready crush them by thefr intolerable burden. The armed vessels of the North are what the South fears, and the armistice would cancel thefr power by condemning them to repose, precisely during 212 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. ' the interval required for their effective operations. Charleston would be secured against an attack, and Galveston reinforced. The army being composed in part of artisans taken from their work, and anxious to return to it, inaction and the remoteness of the danger would tend to disorganise them ; while the South, nourished by slave labour, would be in a condition to exercise the troops at its disposal, and would be ready for the opening of the campaign. All this is clearly enough seen by thinking men, and the Spectator very recently published a remarkable article on this subject ; but, strange to say, it does not seem to have been perceived by the numerous friends of the South ; for, instead of supporting the idea of a media tion by which their piroteges alone would benefit, they have laboured to oppose it to the utmost of their power. Conse quently, this idea for the moment is in England the most unpopular one that can be imagined. LETTER CIL THE THEONE OP GEEECE TO PILL, AND PUBLIC OPINION. November 25lh, 1862. A MOVEMENT woithy of notice is working here in men's minds, relating to the Greek question. So long as the choice of a candidate for the throne of Greece appeared doubtful, public opinion in England showed itself almost hostUe to the candidature of Prince Alfred. The prevailing idea was, that if England appeared to support any EngHsh candidate, she would thereby forfeit her right to invoke against a French or Russian candidate the terms of the protocol signed in the month of February, 1830, by the Priace de Lieven, the Comte de Montmorency- Laval, and the Earl of Aberdeen, the plenipotentiaries of Russia, France, and Eng land ; a protocol which, as you are aware, excluded from the throne of Greece aU princes belonging to the reigning famiUes of each of the confracting powers. THE THRONE OP GREECE TO FILL, AND PUBLIC OPINION. 213 In fact, the chances at first seemed to be in favour of the Duke of Leuchtenberg, who, in his double capacify of son of the Grand-Duchess Marie, and grandson of Eugene Beauhar- nais, came forward as the candidate naturaUy preferred by the Cabinet of St. Petersburgh and by that of the TuUeries. Again, the composition of the provisional Government in Greece was not of a nature to encourage the English. The President, Dimitri Bulgaris, a man of great energy and great popularify, and one of the best orators of modern Greece, has never made any secret of his sympathies for France and for French institutions ; to such a degree, indeed, that his enemies accuse him of being sold to the Imperial Government. Con stantine Kanaris, who occupies the post of first Vice-President, is Ukewise thought to be favourably disposed towards France, and stUl more so towards Russia, being a native of the island of Ipsara, which stiU belongs to the Turks. There remains the second Vice-President, Benizelo Roufos, who may be considered as the leader of what is caUed in Greece the English party. Benizelo Roufos is immensely rich, very honest, and much esteemed in his own country ; but these advantages faU to counterbalance, either the talent and popu larity of Bulgaris, or the prestige conferred upon Constantine Kanaris by the ever fresh remembrance of his naval exploits during the war of independence, exploits which won for him, from Victor Hugo, the surname of the modern Themistocles. It was, therefore, not without reason that England dis- frusted the success of the candidature of Prince Alfred, when it was proposed, and consequently public opinion spoke as did the fox in the fable ; it declared the grapes were sour, and fit only for peasant-boys, — ^provided always, that those peasant- boys were neither French nor Russians ! But now, affafrs in Greece have taken quite an unexpected turn. The influence of France, the triumph of which was so much dreaded, has given scarcely a token of vitality; the Russian intrigues, about which so much noise was made, have left every stone in its place ; and it is the candidature of Prince Alfred, after all, that has the wind from the stern. If correspondents' letters are to be believed, his name is received with acclamations by the clubs ; his bust has been crowned with flowers ; he is adored in anticipation. Fortunate young 214 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. man ! There is nothing like being a prince to excite trans ports of enthusiasm at such little cost. Be that as it may, things ha-ving taken this turn, you need not be surprised if the grapes have ceased to appear sour. Thus Prince Alfred's candidature begins to obtain in England a reception which superflcial observers would never have deemed possible two' or three weeks ago. A host of objections which were seen at that time have suddenly disappeared, or are now esteemed of little importance. A few days hence, the fear of violating the treaty of February, 1830, wUl per haps be denounced as a childish weakness. Afr.eady subtle inteUects draw the conclusion from the very terms • of that treaty that, taken literaUy, it binds nobody to anything. What, in fact, does the third paragraph say ? " The Govern ment of Greece shaU be an hereditary monarchy, with succes sion to the throne by order of primogeniture. The govern ment shall be confided to a prince who must, not be chosen frotn the reigning families of the States who signed the freafy ofthe 26th July, 1827, and shall bear the title of sovereign prince of Greece." Now, according to those subtle inteUects to whom I have alluded, it is absurd to suppose that in dra-wing up this clause, England, France, and Russia intended to bind them selves for ever, no matter what circumstances might arise in a more or less distant future ; no matter what direction might be given to events by a national revolution. When, at the moment of' organising the new State, it was decided to caU to the throne of Greece, a prince who should not be French, or English, or Russian, it was evidently with a view to the actual situation, which was known, and not with a -view to a future situation which nobody foresaw, and which nobody could foresee. How can it be imagined that the three powers, when they placed a crown upon the head of Otho, could have stipu lated for the contingency of its being taken from him ? In that case they would have entered into explanations ; but upon that point the protocol is dumb. There is no occasion, there fore, to pause on that account ; and the only question that England has to examine, is to ascertain whether it be, or be not, for her interest to set the treaty aside. In this manner reason certain individuals who, not a month ago, demanded with loud outcries the literal fulfilment of treaties. But, according to the same persons to-day, England THE THRONE OF GREECE TO FILL, AND PUBLIC OPINION. 215 would be yielding to ridiculous scruples in submitting' to the empire of those scraps of paper which diplomatists know so weU how to tear up, when the opportunity of doing so with impunity offers, and, as an example of the fashion in which things are done where the power exists, they cite the invasion of Cracow, the dismemberment of Poland, and the annexation of Nice and Savoy. But has England reaUy any interest in allowing the son of the Queen to accept the throne of Greece, if it be offered to him ? That is a question on which opinions are much divided. It is certain that the problem is fraught •with serious difficul ties. The extreme enthusiasm suddenly kindled in Greece for a beardless prince, who is known there only by name, and who does not even profess the religion of the country, would be an imbecile enthusiasm, were it not connected •with a national object. And who does not guess what is that object? The Greeks desfre Prince Alfred for their king, because they regard as an ine^vitable consequence of his ac cession to the throne the restitution of the Ionian Islands. Now, is England disposed to abandon her protectorate of these islands, which are Greek, and which bum to be re united to Greece ? It is a sacrifice to which politicians of a certain school would consent without much regret, but which, as I think, pubUc opinion is not yet prepared voluntarily to make. Nor is that aU. The great anxiety of England is to protect Constantinople against the Russians. To guard the existence of Turkey is the Alpha and Omega of EngHsh policy. England, ^ therefore, has interests diametrically opposed to those of Greece, who desires, and ought ardently to desire, the desteuction of Turkey, in order to recover the HeUenic provinces which the Turk stiU possesses. What sort of a position, then, would be that of an English prince placed upon the throne of Greece ? He would be obliged, either to govern the Greeks contrary to their most cherished aspfrations, and so incur the risks of an unpopularify fuU of peril, or to make himself the man of the nation, to enter into its views of legiti mate aggrandisement, to sigh, Hke her, for the reunion under the same sceptre of aU the countries detached from Greece by violent usurpations, and thus to pass into open opposition to the 216 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. poHcy of Great Britain upon a point which is for the EngHsh one of foremost importance. It is true that the election of Prince Alfred would have this much of good in it, that it would prevent the election of the Duke of Leuchtenberg ; and in the eyes of those who do not foresee misfortunes so far off, that is the most urgent • matter. As for the Greek Republican party, people pay little atten tion to it here. And yet disdain for that party is a singular act of forgetfulness, and may well become an act of improvi dence. That the repubUcan element has no place in the provisional government which has arisen out of the recent revolution, is indisputable ; but it solely results from the fact, that the republican idea, which is very powerful in several provinces of Greece, as in Acarnania for example, and in .33toHa, has few partisans in Athens. It would be as weU to remember that the movement which produced the actual situa tion was of republican origin, and retained that character until the day when Athens rose in revolt. But Athens did not declare itself before the 22nd of October ; and it was on the 1 Sth that the aged Grivas, the recognised leader of the republican party, hoisted the flag of insurrection at Venitza, which was imitated on the 1 9th at Missolonghi, and on the 20th at Patras. Since then, Grivas is dead, and it cannot be denied that his death is an enormous loss for his party. The opinion, however, which he represented is not buried with him in the grave, and Prince Alfred would have to reckon with it if he became King of the Greeks, especiaUy if, asso ciating himself with the policy of his native country, he lost sight of the fact, that the only party in Greece which can become the dominant party, is that which wiU push forward the most energetically to the reunion of aU the pro-nnces of Greek origin. ELECTORAL REFORM IN PERSPECTIVE. 217 LETTER cm. ELECTOEAL EEPOEM IN PEESPECTIVE. November 26th, 1862. PAELIAMENTAEY reform in this country has lost one of its most valiant champions : Mr. Thomas Duncombe is dead. In the House of Commons Mr. Thomas Duncombe certainly did not flu the place assigned to superior talents. On the other hand, his habits, Hke his tastes, held him aloof from the noise and bustle of affairs, which has led a Tory journal to remark that in Mr. Duncombe has died out the race of those diUetanti legislators, formerly so common in the House of Commons. But that he has always flgured in the foremost rank of the partisans of reform ; that his vote has always been given to the cause of progress ; that he has ever been found at his post when caUed upon to defend that cause ; and that in the path of political ameUorations, desired or desirable, he has gone further than Lord RusseU himself, is what justice requfres to be recognised. Who wUl be chosen as his successor by the electors of Finsbury ? This question was taken up last Tuesday at a meeting of Liberal electors held at PentonvUle, at the Belve dere Tavern. Several names were mentioned, among others that of Charles Dickens, the eminent novelist, and that of John Stuart MiU, the eminent writer. Is it not almost incon ceivable that an economist, a phUosopher, a thinker, a practical poUtician of the calibre of John Stuart MiU, should not yet have entered the House of Commons ? Were there only this fact to show the necessity of a parhamentary reform, I reaUy beUeve it would be enough. I wrote to you some time ago that this question of parliamen tary reform seemed here to have been banished to the region of things kept in reserve; that a great calm reigned in the quarters usuaUy agitated by politics ; and that the English nation appeared so contented with its present condition as to ask for nothing more. But, if I rightly remember, I added that this calm must not be mistaken for numbness ; that poHtical Hfe 218 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. might revive from one moment to another with aU its indomit able aspirations ; that the EngHsh people alone were m a position to enjoy at their leisure that privUege of strength — patience ; and that they acted towards progress as towards a power they knew to be at their orders, — that is to say, after the manner of a master who, with a haughty nonchalance, gives a brief dismissal to his servant, weU knowing that whenever he wishes to recaU him, he has only to say the word. I did not expect to witness such a speedy verification of the justness of that appreciation. Afready the inhabitants of large towns begin on all sides to demand what certain poH ticians fancied they were disposed to adjourn for an indefinite period. "What said the Times a few months ago ? Its chief argument against aU idea of parliamentary reform was, that the people did not ask for anything of the kind, and that it was ridiculous to insist upon offering people a present for which they had no desire. The Times wiU^ now do weU to have recourse to another style of reasoning ; for that upon which it rested itself with such a triumphant air a few months back, would not pass at present. The reform movement has resumed its course, beyond aU doubt, and one proof of it is the great meeting which took place at Leeds, last Monday, in the Town HaU. There were a«sembled about 280 delegates, come from all parts of the country, and representing important towns, such as Manchester, Bfrmingham, Newcastle, &c., &c. Invitations had been addressed to Lord Carlisle, Lord RusseU, Lord Londesborough, Earl de Grey and Ripon, Mr. Bright, Mr. Cobden, Mr. Stansfeld, and other poUtical cele brities weU known for thefr adhesion to the principle of parhamentary reform. Unfortunately different motives pre vented most of those who were in'vited from responding to the wish that had been expressed. Mr. Bright, for instance, excused himself by reason of engagements which he had made, and which he could not put off ; Mr.; Cobden, by the necessity of avoiding a renewal of the attack of bronchitis from which he has been recently suffering ; Lord RusseU, by the fear of affecting, through any shape of official intervention, the character of spontaneousness, which is needed to give weight to the expression of popular ELECTORAL REFORM IN PERSPECTIVE. 219 wishes. However legitimate such excuses may be, it cannot be denied that the absence of men standing so high in public opinion as Mr. Bright, Mr. Cobden, and Lord RusseU, deprived the meeting of some portion of its importance. At aU events, it certainly furnished the opponents of reform with a pretext, of which, for want of something better, they have eagerly avaUed themselves. In reality, however, the essential point was that the personages who had been invited to attend, should give a signal, public, indisputable testimony of their adhesion, to what constituted the object of the meeting, and from this point of view, at least, thefr answers have left nothing to be desfred. They are, aU of them, against what may ,be styled the exclusion, in a body, of the working-classes. How, indeed, could they fail to recognise that there is in that both a great injustice and a great danger ? The men whose labour contributes so largely to the creation of the public wealth, who have to pay their share of the taxes, who, at any given moment, may be caUed upon to defend their country at the peril of their lives, have not they any rights to protect, any interests tp defend, and are they only fit to play, in the political drama, the part of spectators ? That man, whether he knows it or not, is degraded, who aUows any one to dispose in a sovereign manner of his destiny without his being consulted ; and on the day he becomes aware of this, it is all over 'with it ; either there must be yielded to him what is his due, or he must be regarded as an open enemy. Even admitting — though the supposition is monstrous — that the interests of properfy are more worthy of the protection of the laws than those interests of the heart, of affection, of family, of personal dignity, which occupy so large a space in human life, the exclusion of the working-classes would not the less remain inexcusable. According to the calculations of Mr. Baines, who cannot be suspected of exaggeration in such matters, the annual income in wages of English working-men may be estimated at 280 miUions sterling, and their property in fur niture, clothes, tools, deposits in Savings Banks, or in Co-operative Societies, at 500 milUons sterHng ! Is that such a contemptible " property interest," that it is not worth the trouble of taking some care to preserve it ? And there is this to be said, that in England the opponents 220 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. of progress would find it vain to object to the impropriety of granting the right of voting to people incapable of exercising it from want of sufficient intelligence. Besides that the infinite number of cheap books and pamphlets has diffused abroad a knowledge of political science to an extent unknown in France, the success of the Trades' Unions and Co-operative Societies has revealed in the working-classes a foresight, a consistency, habits of order, and administrative quaUties, which no longer suffer the sUghtest doubt as to their fitness to intervene, as electors, in the conduct of public affairs. Such being the case, you will perhaps be surprised that the extension of the suffrage has not sooner become the subject of general discussion. Would you know why it has not ? The reason is curious, and your readers cannot meditate on it too deeply. It is, that the parliamentary system, which is in operation here, has never yet, although carrying in itself every kind of injustice, produced any crying act of injustice. The abuse is tolerated because, take it all in aU, it is very slightly felt. In many respects the House of Commons has deserved far from weU of the people, but at least it has never taken the form of an instrument of oppression. A change has not sooner been demanded, because the evils have not been felt which would have caused the people to sigh for a change. But this, as much as and more than the rest, requires to be explained, and the explanation is in the existence of a free press. Yes, the liberty of the press is what has served as a counterpoise to the vices of the exclusive parhamentary system in force here. It has prevented those vices from bring ing forth their natural consequences. It has furnished the people with the buckler which electoral legislation refused them. In the free press they have had their House of Commons, where their voice has always made itself heard, and the doors of which are always wide open. A remarkable result, which clearly shows what a desfrable thing is the liberty of the press ! Without it the best institutions run the risk of being jeopardised. With it, the worst contrive to make them selves bearable for a long time. The car of electoral reform is at last, however, fafrly started. As to the extent of the concessions to be demanded, opinions differ. Some go so far as universal suflErage, whUe others insist upon a gradual and prudent extension of- the ELECTORAL REFORM IN PERSPECTIVE. _ 221 franchise. The probability is that all wUl agree to claim the less, for fear of compromising aU. In fact, in an undertaking of this kind, it is impossible to dispense with consulting in some degree the temperament of the House of Commons, with whom rests the decision, and it must not be forgotten, that to ask parliamentary reform of parliament, is like asking a disease to act as its own physician. Besides, the country, once placed on the incline of the gradual extension of the suffrage, wiU soon descend that incline to the very bottom, that is, to universal suffrage itself. This is quite understood by the partisans of the past, and it is this which alarms them. They already behold, in their mind's eye, the political preponderance pas,sing all at once from the aristocratic to the working-classes, and democracy enthroning itself victorious in a country in which the reign of social inequalities has been maintained so peaceably until the present day. Thence arise against Mr. Bright, the most active initiator of the movement, hatreds which overflow in furious invectives. But if he has bitter enemies in front of him, he has, on the other hand, behind him, auxiUaries thoroughly resolved to support him through aU and against aU. And as' for himself personally, he is not a man to falter or hesitate. It is certain that universal suffrage in England would the more surely and vigorously displace the possession of power, in that it would introduce into the political arena a class which, independently of the force resulting from numbers, would bring with it an organisation afready complete. The Trades Unions have given to the working-class such habits of discipline that it could, under given circumstances, move like one man ; and it may be easily imagined that the partisans of the actual system turn pale at the idea of an election con ducted like a steike. Nor is it only the partisans of the actual system — why should I make a mystery of it ? — who are troubled by this prospect. I am acquainted with men sincerely devoted to the people, who ask themselves, with a certain degree of uneasi ness, if ¦ an abrupt, absolute, unbalanced displacement of political power would not risk the endangering of liberty by the substitution of the pure and simple sovereignty of the majority for the combined sovereignty of titles and wealth. 222 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. In France, it must be confessed, many persons entertain the most erroneous and the most dangerous ideas as to the nature of democracy. They believe that the foundation of the sovereignfy of the people is laid wherever universal suffrage is established, without reflecting that the exceUence of imiversal suffrage depends in a very great measure on the perfection of its machinery. According as universal suffrage is well or ill organised, will its results be extremely salutary, or deplorable. But, independently even of the question of organisation, it is of consequence to understand that, in every society divided by opposite interests, universal suffrage is not, as is commonly said, the government of the people by itself, but, what is a very different thing, the government of one section of the people by another and more numerous section of the people. For, in .the vocabulary of genuine democracy, in the language spoken by our fathers during the French Revolution, the people is, not the majority of the citizens, but the entire body of the citizens. If the legitimacy of government by the majority were not founded on the supposition that, by this form of government, the interests of aU had a chance of being better served, in what respect would the right of the greatest number be more valid than the right of the strongest ? And if it happened that, from want of sufficient guarantees, the Hberty of the minority succumbed, in what respect would oppression under the form of a cipher be more worthy of reverence than oppression under the form of a club ? The legitimacy of the power of the majority rests upon the presumption, that it is on the side of the majority that reason and right are to be found. But as it would be foUy to give to this presumption the authority which belongs only to certainty ; as it is proved that majorities are far from being infaUible; as there would be supreme danger in saluting them as such ; it is essential, while bo-wing with respect before their power, and whUe submissively executing their decrees, that the means should not be neglected of guaranteeing the minority, and indeed of guaranteeing themselves, against their possible errors — as their power ought always to be sufficiently strong to ensure the prevalence of reason, but never strong enough to prevail over reason. Such are the reflections suggested by the foreseen advent of ELECTORAL REFORM IN PERSPECTIVE. 223 democracy, to the loftiest minds among the friends of the people. I have afready had occasion to make mention, parentheticaUy, of the fine work pubUshed by Mr. John Stuart MUl, a few months ago, on the frue principles of representative government. Nothing can be more striking than the emotion with which he proclaims the absolute necessity of insuring to the minority, in a representative government worthy of that name, a genuine representation, and one proportioned to the place which that minority occu pies in the country. Because the majority ought to prevail , over the minority, does it foUow, he asks, that the minority ought to count for nothing ? Because the minority is bound to obey, does it foUow that it ought to be deprived of the means of making itself heard ? And, taking up the ideas enimciated by Mr. Thomas Hare, he proposes that every citizen .should be caUed upon to choose the candidate whom he prefers, not in such or such an electoral district, but through out the whole country. I regret that want of space prevents me from ' at once setting forth the character, machinery, and consequences of this system ; but I shaU return to the subject hereafter. It has been dictated by the same sentiment that animated Rousseau when he laid do-vm the social problem in these terms : "To find a form of association which shaU defend and protect from the common force each associate, and by which, everyone, combining with all, shaU yet obey only himself and remain ds free as before." An admirable for mula, and which, as I think, would be stUl more so if, in the place of the last four words, Rousseau had -written : " and thereby become free ! " 224 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. LETTER CIV. ELECTIONS IN ENGLAND BEPOEE THE EEFOEM BILL. Noveniber 27th, 1862. Since I have spoken to you about Parliamentary Reform, ,a few words on the manner in which elections are con ducted here, wiU not be out of place. But, first of aU, how were things managed before the Reform BiU ? A history, in which comedy is strangely mingled with drama, is that of the electoral system as it existed in England pre-vious to the famous Reform BUl of 1832. Then, as now, there were members elected by counties, members elected by boroughs, members elected by a certain number of cities, and members elected by the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and DubHn ; and then, as now, the Lower House was sup ¦ posed to represent " aU the Commons" of England; but, great indeed was the interval between the fiction aud the reaUty. As far. as the counties were concerned, they had ceased from the reign of Henry VI. to express the wUl of the people ; for — curiously enough — that universal suffrage, whose phantom inspires in these our days such terror in Mr. Disraeli, Mr. Whiteside, and their feUows, was practised in counties until the reign of Henry VI. This is proved by the very Act by which, at that period, the right of electing knights of the counties was restricted to freeholders possessing an income of forty shilUngs ; and that because of the " very great, out rageous, and excessive" number of common people 'who took part in the elections. As for the towns and boroughs, the right of voting had been conferred upon them ¦ in ancient times by the kings as a free gift. It was a privilege, a pri'vilege of which several ¦^poor boroughs begged to be disembarrassed, when it was the custom to pay the elected out of the pockets of the electors ; ' and which they entreated might be restored to them, when it ELECTIONS IN ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORM BILL. 225 became customary for Members of Parliament to provide for their O'wn expenses. Again, in towns where there was a corporation, or a body constituted by a royal patent, it was the corporation, not the population, that was represented. Dating' from the Stuarts, the right of voting belonged, in to'wns, only to burgesses and freemen. In some of them, those individuals were added to the number of the electors who, being proprietors of a house, and residing in the locality, paid scot and lot, — that is, both the local and the general taxes. Nothing can be piore absurd, and, I might add, more comical, than the disproportion established by the ancient system between the representation and the population. In the counties this disproportion, though sfriking, was at least not monstrous, the number of knights to be elected being generally two for each county ; but as for the towns, and especially the boroughs ! From a report of 1790, it appears that, at that time, the city of London with 500,000 souls, had only four representatives. And would you know how many the county of CornwaU had, the population of which did not amount to 175,000 inhabitants ? 44 ! In that same year, 1790, 375 voters distributed among 30 boroughs, returned to the House no fewer than 60 members ! The member elected for Tiverton was chosen by 1 4 voters, while he who was elected for Tavistock was the representative of 1 0 electors ! In this enumeration the borough of Old Sarum deserves an honourable mention. In the time of Henry VII. it was an absolutely desert spot, and, at the time of the Reform BiU, it was a borough consisting of half-a-dozen tumble-do'mi old houses inhabited by a dozen individuals. It had not the less the distinguished honour of being represented in the House of Commons by two members, who were generally nominated either by the steward or the butler of the pro prietor of the place. If that astonishes you, what will you say of that other borough which, after being swaUowed up by the sea, continued to be represented ? The proprietor of the sea -shore stepped into a boat with three others, and the election took place at sea. That scene amuses me not a little ; but I like stiU better the one described by the Lord Advocate in 1831, as having occurred within the memory of man, at Bute, in Scotland. Imagine an electoral assembly TOL. Ilf Q 226 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. composed — in addition to the sheriff, and the officer charged -with registering the votes — of one elector ! This worthy individual took the chair, as was only proper, gravely caUed over his own name, answered to it, gave himself his own vote, proposed his own nomination, seconded his own pro position, put the question to the vote, and was elected unanimously. Two words, now, on the electoral corruption which reigned supreme. Wherever interests were di-vided it was necessary to reckon with the electors ; but the mode of recognising their right, in that case, consisted in purchasing their votes. In vain were these ignoble bargains prohibited by law, seeing that to elude the law there was no occasion for any great ingenuity, the grossest pretexts sufficing. The electors were paid as agents, as messengers, as flag-bearers, as anything. Or, else; thefr votes were purchased under the form of some kind of merchandise. Superfluous to add, that it was always at exorbitant prices, such as the sum of £800 given, in 1790, for a gooseberry bush! In 1784 the Westminster election cost Fox not less than £18,000; and Albany Fonblanque speaks of an election in Leicestershire which, having been keenly contested, re sulted in burdening the property of the successful candidate with the annual payment of £15,000. Such were the monstrous abuses to which the axe was to be laid, when the hour struck fo.r the Reform BiU. Have they entirely disappeared ? This is a question which I wUl examine in my next letter. ELECTIONS IN ENGLAND SINCE THE REFORM BILL. 227 LETTER CV. ELECTIONS IN ENGLAND SINCE THE EEPOEM BILL. November 2Sth, 1862. The Reform BUl of 1832 certainly improved the state of things in various respects. Nevertheless, enormous abuses stUl exist. The "Whigs, who were in power in 1832, came down -without pity upon the rotten boroughs which were in the hands of the Tory parfy.; but they showed themselves very indulgent toward those which were in their own hands. The right of sending a member to ParUament, after being taken from insignificant Httle places which were not fit to exercise it, was bestowed upon important to-wns, such as Manchester and Bfrmingham, which did not previously possess it ; while large counties, such as Cheshfre, Lancashire, Surrey, and CornwaU, obtained each four representatives instead of two ; but special care was taken not to touch the holy ark of restricted suffrage. A circle was drawn around electoral cor ruption, but it was not struck to the heart, and even at the present day the influenca of money weighs very heavUy on the Hberty of elections. By the Reform BUl, 56 boroughs, the poptdation of which did not, in 1831, amount to 2000 inhabitants in each case, and which -altogether returned 111 members to the House of Commons, were deprived entfrely of the unjust and exorbitant pri-vUege they had previously enjoyed. In 30 boroughs, containing each a population of less than 4000 souls, the right of sending two members to the House I was reduced to that of sending one. This same right of choosing a representative was given to 22 new boroughs, containing each a population of 12,000 souls and upwards. In Scotland the number of the representatives of towns was raised from 15 to 23. In Ireland new boroughs were created, and the right of returning two members was bestowed upon 45 towns of importance, and, in addition, upon the University of DubUn. These cHanges constituted a real progress ; but they in no q 2 228 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. way weaken the considerations which miUtate in favour of a more extensive and genuine progress. These considerations may be thro-wn into a strong light by the aid of a few figures. In the ffrst place, there can be nothing more unjust, nothing more absurd, than the distribution of the electoral power. "What answer can be given to Mr. George Wilson, when he states that there are in the House of Commons 330 members — more than one-haH- — who are elected by only 160,000 to 170,000 voters out of a total of upwards of one miUion of electors in whose hands dweUs the electoral privilege through out the three kingdoms ; and that Lancashire and the West Riding do not send more than 45 members to Parliament, although their population is equal to that of 18 counties, which are represented in the House of Commons by 167 members ; and that the two members returned by Thetford represent merely a population of 4000 inhabitants, and are chosen by no more than 216 electors, whUe' Mr. Baines, member for Leeds, represents a population of 200,000 in habitants, and is chosen by 7000 electors. Another capital defect is the limitation of the franchise. In counties the right of voting belongs exclusively — 1 . To those who have property producing an annual income of forty shiUings ; 2. To those avBlo have a life-interest in an estate depending upon a manor, and yielding an annual revenue of at least £10 sterling ; 3. To those who occupy, as lodgers or farmers, a properfy worth £10 a year, if the original lease was for not, less than sixty years; or £50 a year if the term of the original lease was for not less than twenty years. In cities and boroughs it is necessaryj in order to possess the right of voting, to be the proprietor or tenant of a house let for not less than £10, unless one happens to belong to the fr-eemen, or the burgesses. In this manner it is properfy which is' the sign of political capacity, and the basis of the elective power. Now, in the way of limitation of the franchise, see what are the consequences. The restrictive conditions appHed in the United Kingdom to the right of voting, when expressed in figures, give the foUowing results :-.— ELECTIONS IN ENGLAND SINCE THE REFORM BILL. 229 Number of Members . . 658 Number of Electors . . . 1,269,173 Population 28,893,061 Thus, in a free people, enUghtened and orderly, the power of electing the 658 personages commissioned to represent the nation, is actuaUy concentrated in the hands of about one miUion of men, out of a population of near thirty miUions. Lord Brougham, whom nobody wUl accuse of being Utopian and revolutionary, does not hesitate to quaUfy, as a gross absurdify, this idea of attaching the exercise of poHtical rights to real properfy. He asks in vfrtue of what system of rea soning should the tenant of a rickety old house, the annual rent of which is £10, be granted a privilege which is refused to a man who may have a miUion sterling in the pubUc funds ? And in the next place, if the fact of acquiring a fortune is a measure of poHtical capacity, that proof once produced should not again be required, and once a voter always a voter. Why, then, is a rich man, who has ceased to be rich, despoUed of his right ? It is a flagrant incon sistency. However, I should never flnish if I were to endeavour to enumerate, one by one, aU the anomaUes of the EngUsh elec toral system. Let it suffice to remark how strange it is to grant a right of representation, not to men, but to fields, meadows, trees, stones, and cattle ! For it is not the popula ¦ tion which is represented in England, but the soil ; and when I say the soU, I mean such or such a portion of the soil, privi leged nobody knows why or wherefore. Some figures which belong to the year 1857, but which, I fancy, have not under gone any alteration of importance to affect their proportional value, 'wiU give you an idea of the maimer in which the elec toral sovereignty is distributed in this country. In Yorkshire there are three boroughs, each of which re turned two members to ParUament, namely : — Knaresborough, 'with an electoral population of 2 1 2 Richmond, ,, ,, 340 Ripon, „ „ 353 Tote* . . 905 Now, the three Ridings of Yorkshfre, which returned to 230 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. Parliament the same number of members, comprised no fewer than 56,176 electors, namely: — The East Riding, with an electoral population of 7,538 The North Riding, „ „ 11,319 The West Riding, „ „ 37,319 Total. . 56,176 In other words, there are Englishmen among those who are supposed to constitute the sovereign, who are fifty times more sovereign than other Englishmen ! I leave it to yourself now to imagine what must be the influence of certain wealthy landed proprietors and great lords over electoral bodies formed of some two hundred electors. But do not fancy that this influence is exercised in the shade, with precaution, and in a shamefaced manner. On this subject here is a document which wiU amuse you. Certain electors of the county of Londonderry ha-ving taken it into thefr heads, some years ago, in. consequence of some whim or another, to vote according to theu- own wishes, demanded permission to do so, in the foUowing terms, of the Marquis of Waterford, thefr lord and master : — " Your petitioners, convinced that your Lordship is heartUy attached to your tenants, take the respectful liberty of asking your permission to vote, at the approaching elections, con formably to the inspfrations of thefr conscience, and they pray your Lordship to be so good as to give orders to your agent to protect them in the reUgious and faithful exercise of thefr electoral rights. Several landlords in this county have acted in this manner. The request of such a favour being quite reasonable, your Lordship's tenants hope that they wUl not be refused, and have consequently named as a deputation to wait upon your Lordship, Messrs. &c., &c." The answer : — "AsBBKOOK, April Zrd, " Sir, — The Marquis of Waterford desires me, while ac knowledging the receipt of your letter and of the note sent by some of his tenants in this county, to teU you that it is his wish that they should vote for Mr. Clark and Sir H. Bruce. " Yours obediently, " J. B. Beeespoed." ELECTIONS IN ENGLAND SINCE THE REFORM BILL. 231 As to the manner in which elections are conducted, the spectacle would be exceedingly curious if it were more novel. But the avalanche of professions of political faith which roUa down, on such occasions, upon the heads of the electors ; the deluge of placards and speeches which they have to undergo ; the skilful financial manoeu'vres of the candidates, aided at a pinch by the caressing smiles and soft words of their wives or daughters ; the canvassers running from sfreet to street to beg for votes, and exhausting, in favour of the patron who pays them, an eloquence not tmfrequently flavoured by porter or ale ; the pubUc-houses flUed with drinkers celebrating, pot in hand, the vfrtues of the citizen of their choice — at his expense; the means of fransport provided for the loitering or lazy elector by the prodigal foresight of the hero who is to be elected ; the deafening acclamations, at the foot of the hustings, struggling to master the groans which are sometimes accompanied by frreverent projectUes ; those innumerable occasions on which torrents of beer are poured out ; that inconceivable mixture of corruption and passion, of venality and patriotism; that homage which plutocracy pays to potocracy — aU that is nothing new in England. If the fraveUer is amused by such scenes, the phUosopher is saddened. But what would you say were I to relate to you, here, in detaU, the scenes of disorder and 'violence to which keenly contested elections sometimes give rise ? for instance, that which took place, some years ago, at Kidderminster, and where the opponents of the candidate preferred by the majorify gave battie against himself and his supporters — a real battle, in faith, the women bringing in thefr aprons the stones which their husbands were to throw ! With respect to electoral corruption, I am aware that it was intended by the Corrupt Practices Act to put an end to it. I am not ignorant that attempts at corruption, when fuUy proved, entaU the forfeiture of the franchise ; neither do I deny that there is an election-auditor, whose duty it is to check the expenses incurred in connection with an election. I even admit that, on account of venality. Parliament has annuUed elections and disfranchised whole bodies of electors : as witness the four boroughs deprived of their franchise in 1 852. But what I also know, and what I am bound to state is, that, electoral corruption not having been banished from the cus- 232 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. toms of the people, the law is very frequently eluded, and the severity of parliamentary jurisprudence very frequently baffled. As the general costs of an election — and it is no trifling . affair — are at the charge of the candidates ; as they must pay for the rooms in which their committees meet, for the printing of numerous circulars and innumerable placards, for sticking up biUs of every size and colour, for the construction of the hustings from which they are to harangue the people, for the construction of the booths in which the poU takes place, for the services of additional constables, &c., &c., it may be easUy conceived that there are a thousand ways of making legitimate costs serve as a veil to those which are forbidden. It was in the month of August, 1854, if my memory does not fail me, that the law entitled the Corrupt Practices Act was passed, and I remember that on that occasion an ani mated discussion arose on the question, of deciding if among the number of legitimate costs should be placed the payment by the candidate of the traveUing expenses incurred by an elector coming from a distance. Those who were for the affirmative did not faU to assert that a poor elector was not corrupted by being placed in a condition to exercise his right of voting ; while those who were for the negative proved exceedingly well that this practice was only a roundabout way of purchasing 'votes. The Act of 1854 forbids banquets, given on the eve or on the day of poUing, at the charge of the candidate. So far so good ; but how prevent a certain number of electors from drinking together, if they please, so lohg as they are supposed to do it at thefr own expense ? In like manner, the Act of 1854 forbids to candidates aU outlay in cockades, flags, banners, and instruments of music ; but banners and bands of musicians figure with no less im punity among the electoral proceedings, so long as it is not, the candidate who is supposed to pay for them. To what, then, in matters of electoral corruption, is the influence of this law reduced ? To very Httle, in fruth. The obstacle is outflanked, that is all ; and it wiU always be so until a reform has been introduced into manners. There is another point to be considered. Could not the electoral proceedings in England be modified with advantage ? ELECTIONS IN .ENGLAND SINCE THE REFORM BILL. 233 and are there not serious objections to be urged against the presence of the candidates ou the hustings ? In the first place, it is not easy to understand the utilify of this exhibition of the person of the candidate. That he should show himself to the people to make known his opinions and sentiments would be exceUent, if such were the result obtained. But no : no sooner does the tmfortunate orator open his mouth, than his voice is pitilessly smothered beneath the shouts and groans of the friends and partisans of his opponent. In vain does he implore sUence by looks and gestures ; the tumult continues and goes on increasing until it rises to a storm. Not a speech that is not, at almost every sentence, interrupted by howls. There is whistUng, and groaning, and imitation of the cries of different animals. Strange mode of mental communication ! Edifying exchange of ideas by means of speech ! Without taking into account that from shouts the mob frequently passes on to acts of vio lence, which tend to degrade both those who commit them and those who are exposed to suffer from them. To what an abdicatipn of his dignity as a man is not he reduced to descend who, in order to have /the privUege of writing after his name the capital letters " M.P.," resigns him self -to be pelted 'with roasted apples, and put to flight covered 'with soot ! At the price of what humiliations is this victory to be purchased, if it be gained ! And when one has made himself so Httle in the hope of making himself great, how difficult must it be to endure a defeat ! It is not to be gainsaid that the practices to which I allude had thefr good points w.hen they were first established. In the days when pubUc meetings were rare, when a cheap press did not exist, when the people were seldom able to read, the appearance of the candidate upon the hustings was almost inevitable, for reasons diametricaUy opposed to those which . cause it to be superfluous at the present time. It is worthy, too, of being noted that the rioters at elections are not themselves electors — not those .whose votes are regis tered. The disorder generaUy proceeds from those who take no part in the affair except through the prehminary and purely formal mode of voting, the show of hands. And everybody knows that the show of hands counts for nothing as soon as a poU is demanded, which happens every time there are any of 234 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. a contrary opinion, were it only a single individual. The show of hands is the franchise of those who have no franchise. WeU ; may not the extravagances of which the mob of the excluded render themselves guUty, proceed, perchance, from the very exclusion to*which they are condemned ? May not the violent fashion in which the non-electors strive to exercise thefr influence spring precisely from the cfrcumstance that they are not admitted to influence, in a regular and effective manner, the progress of pubUc affairs ? Would he who fancies that he acts the part of a citizen in throwing a stone, faU into such a deplorable error if he could act the part of a citizen by giving a vote ? The statesmen of this country would do weU to reflect upon this. To prove the necessity of a new reform, there is no want, you see, of arguments. Let us not, however, exaggerate. He who should judge by these fraits the merit of the repre sentative system in England, woidd stop at the surface of things. After aU, public opinion makes itself felt through the more or less deplorable incidents of this singular lUad. As the votes which one candidate purchases tend to neutraHse those purchased by his rival, the victory remains at the end of the accoi^nt with those independent votes which respond most closely to pubUc feeUng. Besides, in the midst of this free conflict of opinions and ideas, the judgment of the citi zens is exercised, their understanding is enUghtened, their attention is fixed upon each phase of every question of a nature to interest them, and their individual existence becomes iden tified with that of their country. Again, they who venture into the Usts are almost invariably led by the desire of victory to accept engagements attached to the adoption of the most urgent reforms, and progress pursues its irresistible course. THB TICKET-OF-LEAVE MEN. 235 LETTER CVL the ticket-of-leave men. December, 1862. Macaulay relates that when WiUiam III. purchased Ken sington Palace of the Earl of Nottingham, and prepared to instal himself in it, the English aristocracy took it very UI, and that for a somewhat curious reason. At the present day Kensington Palace is, in reality, a part of London ; but in the time of WUUam III. it was a country house. And how to get to it without danger ! No one had yet thought of Hght- ing up by means of gas. There was a scarcity of street lamps. The road from PiccadiUy to Kensington, — a road which I myself have traversed every night for two years, without teoubUng myself about the hour, and vrith my hands in my pockets, — that road was in the time of WilUam III. a highway more infested by robbers than was formerly our famous forest of Bondy ; and the lords and ladies of the close of the 1 7th century naturaUy thought it a very disagreeable' thing that they could not go to Court in the evening without running some risk of being assassinated. I remember that when I read that passage in Macaulay, I heartily blessed ci'vUisation, which has given us gas and poUcemen. But alas ! I now begin to doubt everything, ci'vUisation, poUceinen, and the efficacy of gas. Open any newspaper at hazard, and you wiU find in it nothing but accounts of nocturnal outrages. Here, it is a woman who is robbed in Oxford Street, by the glare of lamps which flood •with Ught the enfrance of a much-frequented music-hall ; there, it is the imprudent possessor of a watch, the chain of which he aUowed to be seen, who was three-parts strangled in passing from Bond Street into PiccadiUy. Every morning at her breakfast Madam has th^ satisfaction of reading a fine history of robbers, and, in addition, the furious comments of the journal in which it is feet forth ; for there is a genuine panic among journaHsts, a class of men who possess watches, and who return home late. It is also worthy of remark, that 236 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. these robbers pride themselves on being men of courage. Instead of sneaking into the shadow to watch for their prey ; instead of choosing for the theatre of their exploits, " Quelqu' endroit 6carW Oii d'etre uu assassin on a la liberty," they affect the populous quarters from a chivafrous^ spirit, and brilliantly-lighted quarters are in no way distasteful to them. It is likewise noteworthy that they do not have recourse to any sort of compromise. They do not cry out to you, " Your money or your life ! " which would render possible some sort of composition. . Nothing of that sort ! A blow -with a life-preserver is the ohly warning they hold themselves bound to give. This , pleasant state of things, as you may weU imagine, has at last become the subject of such prepossessing interest, that there is nothing for the moment equaUy absorbing. Little matters it to know why General MacCleUan has been re caUed by the Federal Government; or in what mediation ought to consist ; or what sort of a King the Greeks wUl give themselves. The great question is to know if one can go out, at nightfaU, without ha-ving to do with a cut-throat ! You wiU ask me what the authorities are doing aU this time, and what has become of that London police which was said to be the best organised in the world. It would seem that nobody knows ; for it is a question which the papers never tire of asking, without being- any further advanced for their pains. Sir Richard Mayne has increased the number of policemen ; but the misfortune is, that they are never to be found where their presence is desired. It is certainly very good-natured, on the part of the authorities, to post up. Notices to the Public, advising every one to provide for his own safety ; but you -wiU admit that the advice is not very encouraging. It has, in any case, the fault of proving that the taxes are very hea'vy in proportion to the good that is derived from them. If every one is to be his own policeman, why should any one contribute to pay the police ? However that may be, the desperate advice : " Help your self, and Heaven will help 'you," is what, at the point to which things have come, a thousand wrathful journals are reduced to give. We are assured, on aU sides, that unless we THE TICKET-OF-LEAVE MEN. 237 arm ourselves with a good revolver, with the firm resolution of making use of it, if need be, — ^we are aU dead men. You have no idea of the vehemence with which certain papers have recommended every one who cares for his life to foUow the example given by Mrs. Norman, at Hor-wichend, Whaley- bridge, in Derbyshire. This lady was occupied, in the night time, nursing her chUd, when she suddenly heard a strange noise in her parlour. Without awakening her husband, who happened to be iU, she armed herself with a revolver, went downstairs, perceived in the room whencfe the noise had issued, a man with a Hghted candle in his hand, took aim, fired, and shot the robber in the chest. He had a comrade who was waiting for him outside, and who succeeded in carrying him off, aU covered with blood, but justice had been done upon him. It remains to be seen if ladies must hence forth carry pocket-pistols in their workbags, and poniards in thefr garters, and if every house is to be defended by a dining-room Joan of Arc. Besides, the proceeding, which consists in doing justice on one's own account, has its incon veniences. The other evening one of my friends was politely accosted at the corner of a street by a man, who asked him something which he did not weU hear. Without a moment's delay, and under the impulse of a panic, he replied by a terrible blow which sent the man roUing into the street. In telling me this, my friend acknowledged that, when his first impression had passed off, he regretted the vivacity of his reply : the poor feUow was only guilty of having asked his way. Suppose that the answer, instead of being a blow, had been a pistol-baU ! It makes one shudder to thinli of the murderous errors which nervous persons would be liable to commit, if once they were armed to "the teeth, and convinced that whoever approached them wanted their lives. On the other hand, one cannot aUow one's throat to be cut through a horror of carrying fire-arms ; and as for being resfrained by a quintessential sentiment of philanthropy, no one will be so disposed in England, which is certainly not the country of bishops who think it quite right that an equivocal visitor, on taking his leave of them, should carry off their plate. Which alternative are we to adopt ? Are we to be con demned to see one of the two capitals of tbe civUised world 238 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. return to the manners of the middle ages, or, more properly, to the usages of savage life ? The first step towards the discovery of a remedy must be by thoroughly mastering the causes of the evil. Are these causes to be solely sought for, as pubUc opinion seems to imagine, in the ticket-of leave system ? You are aware that what is understood here by ticket-of- leave men are criminals to whom, if they have weU conducted themselves during their period of expiation, the Government is authorised to grant, after a certain time, the remission of the remainder of their sentence. Among the criminals of this class, there are undoubtedly some who are brought round to better sentiments by the system in force in the prisons ; but there are others who resist every attempt at moral education, whUe they ape submission and repentance so long as they are in the power of their jailer, but once let loose upon society play the part of wUd beasts escaped from a menagerie. Add to this that a criminal who is foUowed by the disgrace of his crime sees every face turned away from himself, every door closed against him, and frequently encounters insurmountable obstacles in his efforts to open out a path to a better regulated life. Thence arises a danger which belongs to the very essence of the system, whatever sympathy may in other respects be merited by an idea which consists in making punishment a means of education for him who has incurred and is undergoing it. On reading the accoimts of the numerous oufrages of which London is at this moment the theafre, and on hearing the clamorous protests uttered by the ticket-of-leave men, Sfr Joshua Jebb lost no time in informing the pubUc, in a long letter swoUen out with statistics, that they were very unjust towards these poor Uberated convicts of England ; that they were not, by a great deal, so black as they were represented ; that of 1,895 criminals restored to liberty in 1854, the number of the relapsed has scarcely been, in an interval of eight years, 9 per cent. ; that, in truth, it has exceeded 16 per cent, on the 2007 criminals restored to Hterty in 1856; but that, after all, the crimes ^ of the ticket-of-leave men occupy comparatively Httle space in the catalogue of murders and crimes committed by the whole body of malefactors; that since 1853 there have been upwards of 1,400 Uberated every THE TICKET-OF-LEAVE MEN. 239 year, whUe the number of malefactors kno-wn to the poHce amounts to no less than 123,049, who find shelter in 23,946 houses — any other than this worthy Sir Joshua Jebb would have said dens. I do not know how far the figures quoted are exact ; but it is quite certain that this defence of the ticket-of-leave men has had no success. The public, to whom the law-reports every day invariably exhibit old offenders among the heroes of the nocturnal expeditions which make London to mourn and fremble — the public refuses to yield itself unconditionaUy to the arguments of Sir Joshua Jebb, who is dfrector of criminal prisons,. and consequently preaches for his parish. The Times very cleverly observed, two or three days ago, that if the mis tress of a house -wished to know the surest means of placing her stores beyond the reach of an invasion of mice, she would carefuUy avoid taking counsel of Baron Trenk, to whom a mouse was an amiable companion, running up to him when called, dancing on its hind feet, and furnishing her teacher with matter for a thousand little experiments fuH of interest. The fact is that Sir Joshua Jebb's reasoning is faulty at the very base. He quotes as a conclusive proof the cases of relapse confirmed by a judicial sentence ; but the cases of relapse which have escaped with impunify, — do they not count for anything ? With regard to the latter, Sir Joshua knows no more about them than you or I, and the public may surely be excused for being alarmed when it has before its eyes exam ples of prisoners who, on being brought before the magis- frates after several relapses, prove to have been sentenced to more years of imprisonment than belong to their lives. "Why? Because education which commences in a prison is naturaUy very slow of progress. Why so ? Because want, which awaits the criminal on issuing from prison, has only too much power to send him back to it. You imagine you can cure the infected wretch by taking him out of the hospital ! Are you quite certain that in restoring him to liberty, you do not again expose him to infection ? But if Sfr Joshua's figures do not prove that the system of ticket-of-leave men is irreproachable, they do tend to estabHsh that putting an end to that system would not be putting an end to this scourge. Fancy an army qf evil, 123,049 strong, which recruits in the class of ticket-of-leave men no further 240 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. than 1,400 men per annum ! — 123,049 cut-throats ! As the Spectator weU remarks, it is a larger force than the army of soldiers with which England reconquered India. ShaU I now speak of the remedies proposed? Some demand that redoubled watchfulness should be exercised towards liberated criminals ; others put forth the idea of patrols of volunteers who should traverse the streets of London during the night, without trumpet or drum; others, again, propose to multiply the gas lamps ; and yet others insist on returning to the practice of transportation, forgetting that the Government was obliged to give up that practice from want of colonies which would consent to serve as a sewer for the offscourings of the metropolis. But nobody seems to reflect that we have in the midst of us two great schools of perversity incessantly open : destitu tion and ignorance ! It is true that to attempt to attack the evil at its root would require a spirit of generaUsation which is entirely wanting in England, and a loftiness of views, an intrepidity of heart, which are wanting everywhere. StiU, how can it be denied that what is a question of charity as concerns the poor is a question of security as regards the rich ? A degrading tyranny with respect to the former, destitution associated with ignorance, is with respect to the latter a perpetual menace. That certain beings are born necessarUy perverse,, and that moral nature has its monsters as weU as physical nature, is possible ; but who would dare to assert that nature produces beings necessarily perverse in the frightful proportion repre sented in criminal statistics ? And if education, if the condi tions of weU-being, have nothing to do with that, whence comes it that monsters by birth are not found almost equaUy distributed through aU classes of society ? When you ask' : "Why did the law strike do-wn that man?" you are answered; " Because that man has committed a crime ; " and when you ask : '' Why did that man commit a crime ?" for the most part you receive no answer at aU. THE GAROTTERS. 241 LETTER CVII. THE GAEOTTEES. December 2nd, 1862. How venture out in the evening? Such is the strange question which everyone asks himself here, so much do noc turnal violences multiply ! When I say everyone, I mean those who have neither carriages nor lackeys, I mean the unfortunate foot passengers, doubly unfortunate if they wear on their backs a decent coat and are suspected of carrying a watch. In truth, the evil has now attained the limits which raise the fact of street robberies to the importance of a State ques tion. London is becoming in the middle of the nineteenth century what the forest of Bondy has ceased to be. Is not that an incredible thing? Nevertheless, it is so. Yes, in this city fuU of Ufe, full of men ; in this city, in which, more than in any other place in the world, civilisation has accumu lated its resources and means of defence ; in this city which has hitherto been usually regarded as one that had solved, by a skilful and admirable police organisation, the problem of public security, every one has come to ask himself, at night faU — and Heaven knows that it faUs soon enough at this season of the year ! — if he shaU venture upon this great enterprise. Go out at night ! FareweU to theatres ! Fare weU to clubs ! FareweU to pleasure ! FareweU to business ! as soon as daylight has ceased to iUumine the streets and render them safe. And yet — would you beHeve it ? — quite recently, at two o'clock in the afternoon, a woman passing along one of the most thronged ar 1 most fashionable quarters of London was stopped at the entrance of a Hvery-stable yard, by a -wretch who, in spite of the piercing shrieks of his intended victim, dragged her into a corner where two other individuals were waiting — the one a male, the other a female ! They were engaged in tearing .from this poor woman her earrings and were preparing, for want of something better, to cut off her 242 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. hafr in order to seU it, when some passers-by came up. This, I repeat, took place in the heart of London at two in the afternoon. What think you of such an incident ? WiU you have a further example of audacify ? A Frenchman was walking in Hyde Park a little before four in the afternoon, when four of the amiable indi-vdduals known as garotters threw themselves upon him. But see what it is to have to do with a Zouave ! Our friend happened, fortunately, to be one, and also a thorough master of the science of the savate. In the twinkling of an eye he stretched on the ground, bruised and stunned, two of his assailants, while the other two took to flight. So far, so weU. But not everybody has served in the Zouaves. It is a curious circumstance, too, that when, on coming out of the Park, the conqueror related to the first policeman he saw, what had happened to him, the latter exclaimed : "But how imprudent of you to cross the Park at four in the evening ! " Just as one would say to a teaveUer robbed in Germany: "But how imprudent of you to pass through the Black Forest at night-time ! " You may weU think after aU this, that gas-lamps are a useless luxury. The old saying, " The wicked fear the light," has decidedly ceased to be true in London. I do not know if these garotters aim at heroism and get up an enthusiasm in braving the gaUows ; but it is very clear that in warring upon the passers-by, they appear to choose in preference the battle fields where they are perfectly in sight. They afraid of gas ! ' Bah! It is in Oxford-street, — ay, in Regent- street, if it be necessary, that they will show us what they can do, by taking our purses after they have broken our heads. For, one point especiaUy worthy of note, is the peremptory fashion in which they go to work. Formerly, they cried to you, " Your money or your life ! " and that was something, because, by offering the one you could save the other. But it is now that Sganarelle would exclaim, if he had to speak of these gentry: " Nous avons change tout cela," Their Une of reasoning is : " Let us try to take the life, the purse -wiU come of itself." And in order to have both in this order of suc cession these disagreeable wags make use of a weapon, which is caUed in English a "life preserver!" The traditions of poUteness attached to the names of Cartouche and Jose-Maria are, you see, either lost, or judged out of harmony with the THE GAROTTERS. 243 progress of modern ideas. They begin by knocking you on the head, content to despoil you afterwards. But do not imagine that these crimes proceed from solitary, individual inspirations. No. The cases brought every day before the Police Courts prove that the robbers and murderers who, at this moment, are desolating and terrifying London, are massed in regiments, obey the rules of discipline, act in froops and in vfrtue of skilful combinations. The principle of association is at the bottom of it aU. Superfluous to add, that there is a general and profound sensation. These successive outrages are the subject of every conversation ; the papers are black with narratives which reveal their number and abominable character; journalists write upon this gloomy subject endless tirades ; every morning the authorities are interrogated as to the measures they have taken, or intend to take, and as they make no reply, the pubHc anxiety becomes more and more lively. On the other hand, far from being alarmed by the noise that is made about their atrocious achievements, the male factors seem to derive from it twofold audacity. The more they are denounced, the more are murderous assaults multi phed. Nor is this aU. A sort of fearful contagion appears to be spreading abroad. Crime is developing itself into a mania. The other day two little girls of eleven years of age were taken up for ha-ving essayed the art of garotting upon an old woman — aUuding to which, the Times exclaims with bitter ness : — " An infant Roscius may be a very interesting object on the stage ; but it is a sort of phenomenon which it is not good to encourage in criminal matters." Where wiU the development of this moral pestilence be stayed? The newspapers, not feeUng themselves bound to any sort of circumlocution, call upon the citizens to provide for thefr own safety, by furnishing themselves -with good fire arms, and by taking the ffrm resolution of making use of them on the first opportunity. They record, with much eulo gium, aU that attaches to the right of legitimate defence energetically exercised. They encourage every one to dispense justice on his own account, until society finds means of defend ing itself coUectively. There are thus indi'viduals in whom apprehension has at last turned into fury. Yesterday, an 'Englishman of my acquaintance, a man of great courage, but s 2 244 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. also very eccentric, confessed to me that being tormented by a morbid impatience to prove to these daring ruffians that honest men did not fear them, he had purchased a revolver "with which he wandered about at night along the sfreets reputed the most dangerous, in the hope of being at tacked, and of being able to make an example. To such a pass have things come ! As for the causes, public opinion singles out two, namely : the pleasant existence which is contrived for criminals in prison ; and, secondly, the hope that is given them of coming out, after a period of probation, before, the time fixed for the sentence, should the discipline in the prison have found them sufficiently resigned and susceptible of repentance. In fact, the Hfe which convicts lead at Dartmoor or at Portland is such, that no pariah of free labour can think of it without a sigh. And that does not date from yesterday. In Sfr Edward Bulwer's work, entitled England and the English, we read as foUows : — " The independent journeyman cannot procure with his wages more than 122 ounces of food per week, of whieh 1 3 ounces are of meat. "The able-bodied pauper, at the charge of the parish, receives 151 ounces of food, of which 2 1 ounces are of meat. " The convict receives 239 ounces of food per week, of which 38 ounces are of meat." Thus at the period when Sir E. Bulwer wrote his book, the material condition of the criminal in England was superior to that of the pauper fed by the parish, whUe that of the pauper fed by the parish was superior to that of the honest man who worked for his living. Do statistics at the present day speak a different language ? No. It is now five years ago when, the system in force at the criminal prisons having been warmly attacked by the press, as it is now-a-days, and in consequence of very similar circumstances, Robert Hosking, governor of the PentonviUe House of Correction, publishe'd the following curious figures Ulustrating the dietary system under his administration : — Breakfast per head, per diem : cocoa, | pint; bread, lOoz. Dinner : boUed beef, 4 oz. ; soup, J oz. ; potatoes 2 lbs. ; bread, 5 oz. Supper : gruel, 1 pint ; bread, ¦ 5 oz. THE GAROTTERS. 245 It should be observed that when Robert Hosking thus initiated the pubUc into the secrets of the PentonviUe kitchen, he did so with the idea of furnishing this maUcious pubUc with a triumphant proof that, the criminals confided to his charge were reduced to a barely sufficient dietary. The truth is, that Apicius might probably find something to say against the bUl of fare of the prisoners at PentonviUe. But how many honest fathers of famUies, earning their bread by the sweat of their brow, would esteem' themselves fortunate if they had the lot assured to criminals, whose condition has been described above in official figures I Add to that the prospect of restoration to Hberty, as the reward of tolerably correct conduct, or of a weU-simulated repentance, without regard to the terms of the sentence. It is clear that, in the eyes of criminals teeated after this fashion, the law has a great chance of losing some portion of its terrors, and consequently some portion of its preventive power. I It is, therefore, a generaUy accredited opinion, that the dis orders which at this moment make London shudder, are to be attributed to the Ticket-of-leave men. In vain does Sfr Joshua Jebb, director of criminal prisons in England, swear by his gods that the public is unjust towards the ticket- of-leave men ; that malefactors abound outside that class ; and that it is an error to hold responsible for acts of violence committed by others, those who are tmder his jurisdiction. The public declines to Hsten to anything of the kind, and the outcry raised against the ticket-of-leave men becomes more and more formidable; so formidable, that afready there is some talk of simply making a razzia of the men of that class, even should the principle of individual Uberfy, that principle so dear to the EngHsh, momentarUy suffer a species of -viola tion. What could I say that would depict under more striking colours, both the greatness of the evU and the keen ness of the apprehension ? To this e-vU there needs a remedy. "What ? In my opinion, those who look for it exclusively either in a more rigorous appUcation of the penal law, or in an aggravation of the system of criminal imprisonment, or in the aboUtion of the system which promises mercy to repentance, do not look below the surface of things. The wound is far deeper than 246 , LETTERS ON ENGLAND. they suspect, or affect to believe. There would be less room for crime, if there were more room for labour ; social order would have less need of defending what it protects, if it ihought more of what it neglects to protect ; and society would not be reduced to the alternative of either robbing the penal law of its preventive efficacy, or of bargaining with the criminal for the price of his repentance, if it did not leave the children of the poor to suck in the poison of vice in destitu tion two steps from the penitentiary in which the' chaplain teaches the catechism to hoary-headed viUains. LETTER CVIIL THE GAEOTTEES AGAIN. December 9th, 1862. I TOLD you in my last letter how dangerous it had become to venture out at night in the sfreets of London. Far from having diminished, the danger has increased. In vain have the journals uttered cries' of wrath ; in vain have they recom mended a redoubled vigilance against the bandits who infest the streets, and a redoubled severify against those who might be seized ; in vain has the number of poHceme''n been increased ; in vain have the judges passed sentences more and more severe ; clamours of the journals, efforts of the authori ties, zeal of the police, inflexible attitude of the judicial power, nothing has availed. The law is, as it were, declared in abeyance ; nocturnal outrages go on multiplying ; it is now almost as hazardous to traverse at nightfall a central quarter of London, as it formerly used to be to cross at night the mountains of the Sierra Morena. At first they stopped only the foot passengers ; but now they have gone so far as to stop carriages — at least . I could quote one instance. It is the Reign of Terror inaugurated by the tyrants of the highways and byways. The evildoers seem to say to the worthy citizens : "It is your turn to tremble, good sirs ! " There was a time when Paris had to pass through simUar THE GAROTTERS AGAIN. 247 paroxysms. And at the epoch to which I aUude, even crime had adopted the economic principle of the division of labour ! There_ were, I remember, the Charpentier gang, who had declared war against moderate fortunes ; the Courvoisier gang, who had systematised the pillage of the Faubourg St. Germain ; the Gauthier-Perez gang, who attacked the savings of working men ; and, besides the gangs of the Auvergnats, the Endormeurs and the Etrangleurs. To be just, I ought to admit that the rogues of this country have not yet brought to that degree of perfection the business of assassination. But, 'with that exception, the fashion in which they go to work leaves little to be desfred. And what is fearful to think of is, that many among them occupy a sort of official position. The police know them ; have their name and address ; keep a register of thefr immoraUty ; follow them step by step, impatient to catch them in the act. They, on their part, march with thefr head erect so long as there is no legal proof of their crimes, and they hold themselves insolently on the watch for an opportunity. These are the ticket-of-leave men. But is it these alone who are to be feared ? Alas ! no. Sfr Joshua Jebb, director of criminal prisons in England, places at upwards of 23,000 the number of cut-throats who, outside the category of ticket-of- leave-men, are , more or less under the . eye of the police. Judge from that what a frightful figure must be furnished by the darksome army of malefactors of every kind who are unknown ; robbers by profession, occasional robbers, swind lers, receivers of stolen goods, forgers, vUe and brutal " fancy men," aU in feverish motion, aU rotting in the lowest depths of sociefy. Modern civilisation, that boasted civiUsation, would, I fear, have a terrible account to render if it had to explain the existence of such a state of things before a judge invested with power to summon it before his tribunal. But for the present I wiU not touch that side of the question. AU I wish to point out to you in this letter is one of the saddest results of such a situation. Sociefy in England having shown itself impotent for the moment to afford sufficient protection to its individual members, it has become necessary for individuals to think of protecting themselves. The theory of the right of legitimate 248 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. defence has thus received during the last month an extension which nobody a short time ago would have ventured to predict. Everyone has been encouraged to arm himself, and everyone has armed himself, or is preparing to do so. This one never goes out at night without a heavy bludgeon loaded with iron ; that one carries a loaded pistol in his belt ; a third allows the end of a life-preserver to be seen sticking out of the pocket of his paletot. " Everyone for himself, and God for all " — that is the guarantee for pubUc security to which matters have come. To find fault with this would be idle, since it is a questipn of necessity, but it is impossible to prevent a keen sentiment of disquietude when reflecting on the probable consequences of such an impulse imparted to men's minds. Assuredly if there be one thing that distinguishes the civUised from the savage state, it is the substitution of the principle of common protection for the sovereignfy of individual force. The less room there is for the exercise - of the individual right of legitimate defence, the more advanced is civilisation. It retrogrades towards barbarism whenever each individual is reduced to rely for his safety on the supple ness of his loins, the height of his stature, the strength of his arm, or the use of weapons. That, however, is the method, the excellence of which is vaunted under the influence of the panic, not only, be it observed, from the point of view of a passing necessity, but as a system of permanent guarantee,. by writers who pique themselves on their subtle ideas, then' elegant habits and refined sentiments. This strange symptom of an evil, the depth of which is not generally suspected, is certainly worthy of being noticed, and the circumstance which has led to its manifestation also deserves to be known : but I fear to abuse the hospitality of your columns. What remains for me to teU you is too long to find a place in this letter : I wiU conclude in my next one. BOXING FASHIONABLE. 249 LETTER CIX. BOXING PASHIONiBLE. December 12th, 1862. Since my last letter there has been a fresh outburst of out rages by garotters ; and this time, unforttmately, -it can no longer be said that the outrages are invented and the assatdts a pure fiction. The day before yesterday, at eight o'clock in the evening, a great noise was heard in the street which I inhabit. Every one looked out of the window. Two men were running away as fast as they could, pursued by a third, who cried out at the top of his voice : " PoHce ! Police !" No police coming in sight, the two runaways naturally enough disappeared. They had broken into the house No. 4, exactly opposite to mine. Seen in time in the garden by the proprietor, they had carried off, as thefr only spoils, a hare. The thing this time did not, therefore, take a tragical turn ; but the trifling importance of the result detracts nothing from the audacity of the effort. A second example faUs within my personal knowledge. No long time ago, a friend of my friend Hertzen, the cele brated Russian journaUst, was returning home in a cab, when, not far from Hertzen's house, where he had passed the evening, he saw three garotters dash at the horse's head, which they seized by the bridle, exactly as might have been done with a dUigence on a high road skfrting a forest. For tunately, the night was not far advanced, and the ad-yenture took place in a quarter rather more frequented than the Black Forest. Help arrived at the nick of time, and our traveller got off 'with the fright. A third instance, which it was not necessary for me to read in the journals. Quite recently a French refugee, M. Jourdain, was struck from behind on the smaU of the back by a life-preserver, which stretched him unconscisous on the pavement. His pockets were, of course, immediately emptied. 250 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. He kept his bed for two or three days, and esteems himself fortunate in not having been killed upon the spot., A fourth case but I should never have done if I were obliged to enumerate aU the. cases of this kind which, within the sphere of my personal knowledge, corroborate the com plaints with which the entire English press has rung again for a month past. Only yesterday the Times published a letter, in which an anguished parent related how, in South Kensington, " the Court suburb," his son, a mere boy, had been robbed after being knocked down by a blow from a bludgeon. As you see, the public uneasiness is only too weU founded. Tha't certain heroes of equivocal adventures cover themselves tmder the pretext of assaults conveniently invented ; that there are victims to be laughed at, and assassins, of whom it might be said, " Les gens qu'ils ont tues se portent assez bien," must be admitted. Fear among a thousand is generaUy greater than fear among a hundred ; and when a population of nearly three miUions of souls agree to be aU frightened together, it is quite natural that it should degenerate into a panic, and it is also quite natural that the panic should be turned to account by the cunning. But it is very certain that the streets of London are not at this moment safe in the night time ; that public security is shaken to its base ; that the question of the day, in every newspaper in the country, is to discover how England is to act for the future to rid herself of criminals without putting them to death, and without having to feed them ; that the administration has at last been roused to action, and that a police force in plain clothes has been organised ; th^t the carrying of weapons, if this state of things be continued, would be in danger of being inteoduced into the customs of the people, and of exercising a fatal influence on its manners. ^ This brings me back to the subject of my last letter, which want of space compeUed me to interrupt. If I remember rightly, I told you in that letter that, under the influence of the panic, the theory of " Every one for him self and God for aU" threatened to make great progress ; that the exercise of the individual right of legitimate defence began to present itself to many minds as the best guarantee BOXING FASHIONABLE. 251 for public security ; and that in certain circles, from this dis position of men's minds, a curious symptom had manifested itself. Permit me to resume my thesis. You are aware, that for a long time past, the fights of boxers have been for England what the combats of gladiators formerly were for Rome, and what bull-fights are at present for Spain. Thanks to the march of intellect and the gradual softening of manners, this sanguinary appetite has considerably abated. The England of our days would not understand George IV. making the boxer Tom Spring get into his royal carriage, and driving him in flesh-coloured silk stockings and yeUow cassimir breeches to the spot fixed upon for the grand ordeal. It is very true, however, that a battle lately took place between two boxers, Sayers and Heenan, to which was attached almost the importance of a war between two peoples. With what impassioned interest did the public on that occa sion foUow the different phases of the contest ! With what profound emotion did they comment on the result ? With what vehemence did public sympathy declare in favour of one of the combatants ! It was, undeniably, a sort of national event. . Personages of mark, members of the House of Commons, nay, ministers of the Gospel, were observed among the spectators. Tom Sayers, as a rewai;d for a disputed victory, was acclaimed almost in the fashion of the ancient triumphs. At Liverpool, I believe, he received an ovation simUar to what might have been offered to the saviour of the country. The authorities went out to meet him, a band of music at their head, and flowers were scattered in his path. His glory consisted in ha'ving punched his adversary's eyes to the ^oint of three-parts blinding him, and in having, for his own part, a disabled arm. Yes, all this is unhappily true ; but it is fair not to forget that this humiliating enthusiasm had, if not its excuse, at least its explanation, in a sentiment of national rivafry. Sayers was English, Heenan was American ; and the latter, insult in his eye, defiance on his lips, had crossed the seas to dispute -R'ith the Champion of England, on English soil, the possession of the belt which constitutes the insignia of royalfy among pugUists. However ridiculous it might be to attach the honour of two great peoples- to the result of a pugiUstic 252 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. encounter between two men, whose social value does not differ much from that of the forts de la, halle at Paris, the circumstances of the case accounted in some degree for the ' mad transports of the public. This incident, therefore, cannot be quoted as an absolutely decisive proof of the per sistence of the English in their worship of what they caU the " prize-ring." That worship, without being extinguished, has certainly lost something of its fervour. But now the exploits of the garotters threaten to restore it to its former vogue. The foUowing lines, which I extract from the Saturday Review, are worthy of attention : — "A good way for the inhabitants of London to get the better of the garotters would be by learning the art of self- defence. If a man carries a stick, or any other weapon, it is of consequence that he should know how to make use of it ; and if he is not armed, it is of consequence that he should know how to make use of his fists. Let us suppose that the boxer, Tom King, who issued victorious from the last fight, had gone home from it at night with the price of his victory in his pocket, does any one beUeve that the stalwart arm by which poor Mace's face was so cruelly disfigured, would not have kept the garotters at a distance ? Wherever there is a place for experiments relative to the efficiency of rifled cannon and the resisting power of iron targets, could not some Httle space be devoted to a series of experiments for the purpose of proving the degree of power which a man's fist possesses, and the degree of resistance which a man's cheek presents ? The garotters surely give trouble enough to the police, so that they might leave the boxers unmolested. It is not hard to induce the patrons of this diversion to sit up all night when a fight is to come off on the morrow ; then, when the morning arrives, to creep along at an early hour, Hke malefactors, through the fog, to some out-of-the-way spot, where they run the risk of having, at the end of an hour or two, the poUce upon their heels." If this passage were read in Bell's Life, or Le Sport, or in any other paper of that kind written for the use of that strange world which is composed of aristocratic young idlers and fre quenters of public-houses, there would be no occasion to notice it. But the Saturday Review is a journal which piques itself on giving a tone to gUded saloons and Uterary clubs. It is \ BOXING FASHIONABLE. 253 of all the weekly .papers, if not the best, certainly the most 'widely circulated and the most influential. The article in question has had, besides, the honour of a reproduction in extenso in the Times, and has thus received the sanction of a publicity as imposing as select. Much attention, therefore, has been dra'wn to this apology for professional pugilism and for "the patrons of this diver sion." The Spectator, which deserves, among the weekly papers, as high a rank as the Saturday Review, has opened its columns to an eloquent and pointed reply, the •writer of which, Mr. Thomas Hughes, combines with remarkable Uterary talent a noble character, and aU the qualities of a true gentleman, a rare skill ih the art of boxing, practised by him according to the rules which remove aU danger, and as a purely gj'mnastic exercise. This is equivalent to saying that no one is in a position to illustrate with more authority the brutal, odious, and stupidly sanguinary character of pro fessional and paid pugilism. The fruth is, that the spectacle of a fight between pro fessional boxers is one of the most degrading on which a morbid curiosity can be fed. It is not here, as in a duel, a contest between two men who have reasons for hating one another, risking their lives only to preserve what they esteem their hotiour, and mastered by a sentiment the very exaggera tion of which attaches to something of an elevated character. Not .at aU : two men, who have no motive for treating each other as enemies, exchange terrible blows, sometimes mortal, to win money for inhuman betters, and also for themselves, amid the applause of the circus. And what a circus, great Heavens ! In the first row are placed, a cigar between thefr Hps and a betting book in their hands, carelessly stretched on thick stuffs, the privileged spectators, the fashionables of the boudofr or the counter, who have purchased for two guineas the advantage of being protected against thieves and sepa rated from the ragtag and bobtail by the second row, which is composed of professional individuals, boxers with broken noses, behind whom crowd together, howling like jackals, aU the nameless creatures who form the scum of great cities. It is worth seeing how these feUows' eyes kindle, how their cheeks flush, as soon as the combatants, after sparring at each other, come to blows, and the blood flows, and the faces of 254 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. the fighters, swoUen, bruised, cut into strips, lose aU vestige of humanity ! It is worth seeing with what ferocious in terest the mixed mob of spectators foUow the movements of the weaker of the two champions, when he staggers, when he is knocked down, when holding him up in their arms his seconds sponge him, bring him to, puU him up on his legs, and excite him to exhaust in a supreme effort whatever sfrength remains in him ! AU these characteristic traits of the " diversion " recom mended by the Saturday Review were produced in the battie recently fought by the prize-fighters James Mace and Thomas King, to discover to which of the two should remain the title of " Champion of England," held by the former and coveted by the latter. Mace is a pugilist of consummate science. SmaU, but strong and active, he deals on whosoever dares stand up against him blows which rarely miss their aim, and displays a wonderful skiU in avoiding those which are aimed at himself. King, less expert in his art, is much taller, and his athletic stature, his herculean strength, and the length of his fron arm, make him a formidable adversary. The two cham pions had been previously measured against each other, and science had triumphed in the person of Mace. King claimed his revenge. The departure took place from Fenchurch Street, where occurred scenes of disorder, confusion, and brigandage, which show how the dregs of the populace mingle on such occasions with the fashionable world. A special train carried the two champions, their patrons and friends, to. Tilbury, where a steamer was in readiness to convey them to the neighbourhood of Thames Haven. There, beyond the reach of the poUce, the encounter was arranged to come off. The betting was in favour of Mace, in the propor tion of 6 and 7 to 4. After the first few rounds, judges of the science had no doubt of his victory. King's eyes, nose, and jaw bore hideous testimony to the sinister power of the " Champion of England," and the latter, full of confidence, rushed forward to complete his triumph, when King's right arm suddenly lashing out with a quickness that has been compared to the velocity of a baU shot from an Armsfrong, Mace fell as if struck by a thunderbolt. He had been struck fuU on the face, which now represented nothing more than a shapeless form, horrible to look upon. Those who waited BOXING FASHIONABLE. 255 upon him hurried up to him, bestowed upon him aU the attentions usually lavished on such occasions, and set him up again on his legs ; and he, though hardly able to stand up aright, wanted to try a last effort — heroism of a bull-dog. But at the point to which things had come, the battle was in danger of turning into a pure and simple murder. Mace scarcely needed to be struck a second time to roU a second time on to the ground. On the part of his seconds the sponge was thrown into the air, in acknowledgment of defeat : the backers of the two men squared their accounts. Those who had attached themselves to the fortunes of King now thought of nothing else than gaily pocketing their winnings. Mace, after having received a blow which would doubtless have kiUed an ordinary mortal, was carried off in a condition to inspire pity, to inspire horror, while the spectators re turned to their respective homes, enchanted with the shock given to thefr nerves. The drama was played out. Yes ; this is the sfyle of " diversion " which men of the world, fashionable men of letters, writers who have preten sions to the direction of public opinion, are applying them selves to cry up to the utmost of their power. And the reason which they give for so doing is, that it serves to keep up 'the wholesome traditions of the art of knocking men down, an art which, as they assert, it is right to propagate, since the garotters aspfre to the glory of taking the waU-side of the pavement. With aU due deference to these gentlemen, we have not yet come to that, thank Heaven ! but if it were so, we should have to admit that the civilisation of the nineteenth century has very much to forget and very much to learn ! 256 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. LETTER ex. THE EOCKS AND SHO-VLS OP SOCIETY. December IZth, 1862. It appears certain that the English Government will refuse the offer of the Crown of Greece for Prince Alfred. Why, in fact, should they accept it ? To tie their hands in the Eastern question ? To create for themselves beforehand the embarrassments which, in this hypothesis, everyone foresees, and which might become inextricable ? In the last number of the Revue des Deux Mondes, M. Forcade expresses the opinion that England, having to issue from the Eastern labyrinth, will prefer going upon two legs, Turkey and Greece, to halting upon one alone, Turkey. But one may halt likewise upon two legs, if they are of unequal length. Now, not only would that be the case in this instance, but England would find that she had two legs, of which one went in one direction and the other in a direction exactly opposite — which is not precisely the con dition requfred for walking, much less for running. To protect the Turk, to protect him at any price, to protect him under any conditions, because the Russians at Constantinople would be leaning over India, is imperatively incumbent on the policy of England. But how could England efficiently protect Turkey against the Russians, if she imposed upon herself the obligation of supporting Greece against Turkey ? For, that Greece attaches the idea of her regenera tion to the reunion under the same sceptre of aU the HeUenic provinces, that is to say, to the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire, is beyond aU doubt; and it is equaUy certain that Russia will aid her to the utmost of her power. The situation that would await an EngHsh prince on the throne of Greece would therefore be simply a situation impossible to maintain. He would be placed in the alter native, either of combating the poUcy of his native country to secure for himself the sympathies of his adopted country, or THE ROCKS AND SHOALS OF SOCIETY. 257 of serving that policy at the risk of rendering himself odious to his subjects, and of ha'ving to undergo the incon veniences of an Odyssey simUar to that of James II. taking refuge at Saint-Germain, or that of Charles X. taking the road to Cherbourg, or that of Otho traveUing towards Munich. This is perfectly understood in England. This week's Punch represents a female figure (Greece), trying to persuade a young man (Prince Alfred) to pick up a crown lying on a brasier on the ground. The young man is not at aU emboldened by her advice, and hastily draws back his hand. At the foot of the engraving are 'written the words : " Prince Alfred refuses to burn his fingers." And it is the best thing he could do, according to pubUc opinion. But does this imply that the English look with indifference on the spectacle of the enthusiasm which, in Greece, salutes the candidature, neither accepted nor refused, of Prince Alfred ? Not at aU. At heart the EngHsh are deUghted with the preference given • to them, taking care not to avail themselves of it. They are pleased to see in it a striking homage rendered to the prestige of thefr alliance, the moderation of thefr policy, the superiority of thefr institutions, and the grandeur of that principle of Hberty which they represent in Europe. They are proud of having gained, -without fighting, a victory with which bayonets have nothing to do, and which would seem to attest, before the eyes of the world, the power of EngUsh ideas. Lastly, it is not displeasing to them that the French Govemment should come off second in what they choose to regard as less an affair of diplomatic ability than a question of inteUectual and moral propagandism. Let us not en-vy them this gratification. England at this moment has only too much reason to seek for consolation. The merit of her political institutions is undeniably such as to fix the attention of other peoples ; but, on the other hand, never were those peoples more warmly invited to reflect upon ' the defective side of her social institutions, because never, perhaps, has her powerlessness to contend with destitution and crime appeared under a more sombre light. What mournful reflections, for example, are suggested by the speech dehvered the other day by Lord Derby, at Man- 258 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. Chester, at a numerous meeting presided over by the Lord- Lieutenant of the counfy, the Earl of Sefton ! What dreadful evils are those set forth in that speech, without any remedy being indicated ! Look at these heart-rending figures : Of the two mUHons of inhabitants which that district con tains, the number of unfortunate individuals who are reduced to accept assistance in order to live, rose in the month of September, last year, to 43,500; but in the month of September, this year, it had risen to the figure of 163,498 ; and, at the present hour, it is estimated at not less than 259,385. Add to this, that 172,000 persons are fed by local com mittees, and you 'wUl have as a total the fearful figure of 431,395. 431,395 persons, out of 2,000,000 condemned to inabUify to support themselves ! One in every five — and even worse than that — depending for daily bread either on the assistance from the parish, or on the charity of the pubUc ! Another touch in the picture : during the six months terminating with June, there was dra'wn from the Sa'vings Banks of Lancashfre £71,113 ; and it must be remarked at the same time, that the amount of the sums 'withdra'wn since the month of June is not known. WoiUd you know why ? Because it is a secret which the banks have thought proper to keep to themselves for " prudential reasons ! " "What anguish does that sum of £71,113 express!" exclaimed Lord Derby, 'with good reason. " "What hopes disappointed ! What consoling dreams dissipated ! "What years of labour, of economy, of frugaUty, of prudence, lost for ever ! " And it is in that county, the prosperity of which England has been accustomed to vaunt with the greatest pride, that this desolation of want has been produced ! What is there to oppose to this ? Social science declares ' itself here completely incompetent. The question of knowing how, in the centre of European civiUsation, in the richest and one of the most enUghtened countries in the world, it can be contrived to prevent, within a given circle, one man in five from perishing of hunger — that great question is here solved by alms ! It is true that on this side of the Channel, charify is capable THE ROCKS AND SHOALS OP SOCIETY. 259 of efforts pf which in France one can scarcely form an idea. The subscriptions coUected by (the Central Committee of Succour, without counting the Mansion-House Usts, have given the enormous result of £540,000 sterling, and of this sum £400,000 have been furnished by Lancashire alone ! The Times has proclaimed with legitimate pride, and as a striking proof of the colonies for the mother country, that they have taken part in the subscription to the extent of £40,000. It is needless to observe that beside the rich man's offering stands the offering of the poor. At the Manchester meeting, Lord Derby produced real emotion when he mentioned that on the previous day he had received from the hands of Lord Shaftesbury, a sum of £1200, subscribed by several thousands of working men, constituting the subscription Hst of the journal The British 'Workman, and especiaUy when he stated that the Shoeblack Brigade had come forward to sweU the ranks of this generous army. But however g^eat may be the efforts of charity, they cannot take the place of science. Charity may weU apply some momentary aUe'viation of the evil, but it cannot remedy it. Invoked against the inevitable results of an imperfect social organisation, it may. delay death for a brief space, but it does not contain the germs of life. It is to the perfecting of the social relations, it is to the amelioration of the essential con ditions of labour, that we must look ; and yet that is Httle thought of, although these terrible trials seem to be sent expressly to warn sociefy of the grandeur of the problem, and of the necessify of seriously addressing itself to the study thereof. WiU it be said that the Lancashfre crisis is a pure accident? But do not accidents of this kind reproduce themselves among the industrial population, sometimes from one cause, some times from another, and in a periodical manner ? Is this sauve qui peut of commerce, then, such a rare calamity, which shows us workshops closing, faUures begetting faUures, for- tuhes tumbling down one upon the other, Hke so many houses pf cards, and the wan multitude of working men without employment, seeking their daUy bread between despafr and alms ? What is human 'wisdom worth if it can do nothing, absolutely nothing, against contingencies so frequent and so much to be dreaded ? Is not the principle of solidarity and S'2 260 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. of mutuaUty applied to risks to be run, that principle from which men have succeeded in deriving a guarantee against the effects of haU, against those of fire, even against those'' of death, susceptible of any extension ? Is it, in short, in the nature of things that social foresight -should abdicate in pre sence of chance and the unforeseen ? In speaking of the Lancashire crisis Lord Derby aUowed the words " natienal . humUiation " to escape him ; but did he himself measure the fuU meaning of those words ? I doubt it. And this is not the only subject of humiUation. I spoke to you in my last letter of the fearful and always increasing number of nocturnal outrages of which London during a month past has been the theafre. The evil has assumed such proportions that, if it were to continue, the anxiety of the public would know no bounds. The fact is, that the malefactors are very nearly getting the upper hand. Crime has ceased to flee before the repress^e power — it now gives battle to it in some sort. In the very heart of London crime and the repressive power' constitute, as it were, two hostile powers, who measure each other with a glance, and the impotence of the latter can only be compared to the awful audacity of the former. The streets of the industrial capital of the world have become less secure than those highways on which, in less civilised times, stage-coaches were stopped. Not only is it dangerous to traverse, after nightfaU, even the best Hghted and most frequented quarters, but the very cabs are threatened. In the evening women no longer venture out, while men go out as Uttle as they can. Whoso has a purchase to make, after gas has replaced daylight, abstains from making it, from fear of being garotted on the way; whoso would go to the theatre weighs the pleasure against the danger. I know journaHsts who having to traverse every night the con siderable distance which separates Fleet-street from St. John's Wood, now always take a cab for the journey -which they formerly performed on foot, preferring to add heavily to the burden of thefr expenditure, than to expose themselves to having their necks twisted or their heads broken. But as I said just now, cabs wiU soon have ceased to be a refuge that can' 'be deemed absolutely inviolable. And to sum up all, the cabmen have eome to measure thefr wants by the requisition in which they at present stand, and, THE ROCKS AND SHOALS OF SOCIETT. 261 at a recent meeting they have put forward pretensioils which, if they Succeed in enforcing them, wUl place the pubHc at thefr mercy. In the meanwhile, everyone is arming himself. Men buy bludgeons, pistols, life-preservers ; some provide themselves 'with poniards ; others even talk of wearing swords. The necessity for self-defence is so completely the subject of general anxiety, that a multitude of mind^ are on the sfretch to find out arid adopt efficient measures. The most comical sugges tions, the most extraordinary advertisements find thefr way into the newspapers; for instance, some one has warmly recommended the pubUc to niake use of a thick leather coUar, studded -with naUs, like those which are fastened upon fight ing dogs. Another has announced the sale of a species of large dog, which he declares admirable for being employed against the garotters, seeing this they only devour people on being expressly ordered to do so. How encouraging is aU this ! And note weU, that the carrying of arms, if it becomes general, has a chance of turning into a yet more formidable • danger than that which it is sought to avoid. What a charm ing prospect is that of being killed in the shadow, by a friend who, frightened at an inopportune moment, and taking you for a robber, has pulled his trigger for the sake of precaution ! Is it not a disgrace to England that such a state of things should exist, and be prolonged and aggravated ! The papers ring with complaints. In famUy cfrcles people are astonished and disturbed, and ask each other when and how aU this will finish. Useless clamours ! Superfluous alarms ! The autho rity, which is supposed to represent the social power, and which is charged •with the protection of individuals, gives no sign of Hfe. It is sought everywhere, and found nowhere. Can it be because the problem, too much neglected, has become, in fact, most difficult to solve ? There are people who like to persuade themselves that the evil springs from an imprudent concession to the inspirations of an exaggerated sentiment of philanthropy ; from belie^ving that criminals are susceptible of conversion ; fr'om thefr being treated with too much leniency; from too many of them being restored to Hberty before the expiration of thefr punishment ; in a word, from having entered upon the Ticket-of-leave system. But 262 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. those who think thus are mistaken. The Ticket-of-leave system was adopted — as the Times admitted the other day — ¦ not from choice, but from necessify. "When the colonies re fused to be moraUy empoisoned in order that the atmosphere of the mother country might be purified ; when it became, in consequence, necessary to give up transportation, England found herself, as concerned her criminals, in a great embarrassment. The softened tone of manners, as weU as justice, was opposed to hanging them indiscriminately. To feed them in prison for ever, would be to incur an expense, the indefinite increase of which alarmed the most resolute. Besides, the prisons were in danger of being very soon crowded to excess ; and was it not incumbent to make room for the new comers? The measure was, therefore, adopted of setting loose, as soon as they showed themselves disposed to repent, the malefactors who could neither be sent away, nor kept in prison, neither be put to death nor fed for ever. ^ I pause. To find the cause of the scourge which has just been described, it would be indispensable to carry a Ught into depths into which f^w thinkers, unfortunately, have the courage to descend, and which no Statesman deems himself bound to explore. It concerns, however, the interest of aU — of aU, without exception.; for the misery and corruptioi of one section form the terror of the others. LETTER CXI. A SCENE IN lEELAND. December lith, 1862. A CHAEACTEEisTic sccne has lately been enacted in Ireland; and what is stiU more characteristic is the manifest repug nance of the English papers to make it the subject of com ment. It would seem that they are afraid of saying too much about it ; and, in fact, the scene to which I aUude is of a nature tp throw a sinister Ught on the relations between Ireland and England. A SCENE IN IRELAND. 263. A few words, first of aU, on antecedent facts which serve to explain it. Everyone knows that des.titution is the permanent condition of Ireland. It might be afffrmed without exaggeration that, ever since her forced union •with England, Ireland has not ceased to be in trouble for food, for clothing, and for shelter. Ireland is the .classic land of hunger. There are times, how ever, when, an accidental misery happening to be added to the permanent misery, Ireland rouses herself and cries aloud for succour, as if, alas ! it was not her norinal state to suffer ! Last year, for example, there waiS one continuous groan uttered by the native land of O'ConneU. Ireland was a prey to famine, or, in other words, Ireland was more hungry than usual ! Her representatives in the House of Commons drew pictures of her extreme distress that made one shudder. They demanded, one after another, justice and pity for thefr counfry. They adjured Parliament to occupy itself with this hearfrending question. They launched forth in passionate complaints against the administration of Sir Robert Peel, accused by them of cruel and systematic indifference. All that, it must be confessed, produced but a very trifling im pression in England. Sir Robert Peel denied the extent, I had almost said, the existence of the evil; and the English chose to persuade themselves that he was right. The com plaints of the Irish Members were atfributed by some to poHtical tactics ; by others to that spfrit of exaggeration which is regarded here as one of the traits of the Irish character ; by others, again, to a desire of rendering the administration odious. Not only were doubts thro^wn upon the reaUty of a famine in Ireland, but in certain EngHsh journals these doubts were expressed in an offensive form of raiUery. It was throwing oU upon a brazier ; it was adding to that store of bitter resentment accumulating through centuries in Irish hearts. An incident which narrowly, escaped being dramatic en venomed the situation. Among the Irishmen who sit in the House of Commons there figures a man belonging to one of the noblest and most ancient famiUes of Ireland. His name is O'Donoghue, or, as they say here, The O'Donoghue. Kno^wn for the vehemence of the sentiment which impels him to long for an independent 264 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. Ireland, an Ireland sole misfress of her o^wn destinies, he ia indebted to his hatred of the English rule for the influence he has acquired among the people of his ovm country. He is .one of those who march at the head of the discontented in tatters ; and were a revolt to break out, through hunger, it would wiUingly place itself under his orders. WeU, in the debate to which the Irish famine gave rise in Parliament, it came to pass that, in aUuding to a meeting at which The O'Donoghue had occupied the chair, Sir Robert Peel spoke of it in terms not less contemptuous for the presi dent than for those who composed the meeting. The insult was keenly felt by The O'Donoghue, and he lost no time in sending a chaUenge to Sir Robert Peel, who deemed it his duty to refer the matter to the head of the administration of which he was a member. Lord Palmerston, as might be expected, warmly opposed any further steps being taken in the matter, and even accused The O'Donoghue before the House of Commons of having rendered himself guilty, by sending a chaUenge, of what is caUed in parUa- mentary language on this side of the Channel, " a breach of privUege." There was, consequently, no bloodshed ; and if the matter had stopped there, nobody would have had any grounds for surprise or complaint, dueUing in England being not only prohibited by law, but discountenanced by pubUc opinion. Unfortunately, the English press fired up for Sfr Robert Peel with an unheard-of violence. The O'Donoghue, whose sole crime, after all, was the having demanded respect for his honour at the risk of his Hfe, was treated by the majority of the EngHsh papers as a contemptible swaggerer. They charged him with having meanly courted a noise. They represented him as an itinerant mountebank in search of a platform. They exhausted against him the vocabulary of abuse. Need I teU you the effect naturaUy produced in Ireland by this outpouring of wrath against an Irishman, in reference to a dispute that sprung out of an Irish question ? The popularity of The O'Donoghue waxed stiU greater ; and more completely than ever he found himself personifying in his own country the antipathies, the resentments, the rage of those whose hearts beat beneath rags. I now come to the strange and tumultuous scene of which I •wish to speak to you. It was enacted on Tuesday last, at a A SCENE IN IRELAND. 265 meeting held at Tralee, the object of which was to soUcit in favour of the unfortunate working-men of Lancashfre the sympathies of the Irish people. At one o'clock the high sheriff. Major Crosbie, took the chair ; but long before that both the body of the haU and the gaUeries were occupied by the mob, a mob in tatters, a mob wan and ghastly, whose attitude only too clearly revealed^ its violent intentions. There were present several personages of mark, and, among others. Colonel Herbert, M.P., the Rt. Rev. Dr. Moriarty, a CathoHc bishop, and a brother of the celebrated Daniel O'ConneU. To Colonel Herbert had been enteusted the task of 'reading and supporting the Resolution which specified the object of the meeting ; but hardly had he opened his mouth than his voice was smothered beneath a storm of cries, groans, and howling. He persisted, and the clamour redoubled. " Boys," exclaimed Mr. CSuUivan, with an excitement thoroughly Irish, " Hsten to him, listen to him ; the men of Castle-Island, whom he turned out of thefr homes, wUl know how to answer him." At these words frantic shouts of applause rang out/ In the midsfof the tumult a voice was raised to denounce the unjust distribution of the succours sent from England at the time of the famine. Colonel Herbert demands permission to repel this imputation, and prove that it is a calumny. Vain efforts ! In his turn risefe the Rt. Rev. Dr. Moriarty. This gentleman is a Catholic, a priest, a bishop — ^what greater titles could there be to the respect of an audience composed of Irish peasants ? But he sympathises with England, this CathoUc, this priest, this bishop ; and if he rises, it is to ask, in presence of the famishing peasantry of Ireland, that succour be sent to the famishing artisans of Manchester; as if the distress of the latter had a better claim upon the interest of the pubUc than that of the former ! as if, in the county of Kerry, there were not as many and more unfortunate beings to be helped than in the county of Lancaster ! Such is the envious thought that is read on every countena,nce. Such is the cry which escapes from every lip. Such is the sentiment which pro duces the phenomenon of a CathoHc bishop hooted by Irish peasants ! But suddenly there is a great- sUence. The O'Donoghue is going to speak. 266 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. "Although," he began, " I am only a humble individual " You, a humble individual ! " was the cry from all parts of the hall. " You are a prince ! You are the Prince of the Lakes ! You are the greatest citizen of Ireland ! You are a King ! " And without more delay the order was given to aU pre sent to take off their hats, an order which James O'ConneU courageously refused to obey. The O'Donoghue availed him self of a momentary silence to say that the distress of the Lancashire operatives was greatly exaggerated ; that, after aU, many of them had money in the Savings' Banks ; and that it was riot so with the working men of Ireland. He bitterly dwelt upon the indifference displayed by the English Govem ment in the question of the Irish famine, and concluded 'with the foUowing declaration, which was greeted with thunders of applause : — " So long as disfress exists among us, our first duty is to relieve it." Fresh uproar. Presently the confusion is at its height. The high sheriff is constrained to quit the chair, and leaves the haU, foUowed by several of those present. An indescrib able enthusiasm pervades the assembly. O'SuUivan speaks openly of rebeUion ; he boasts of having been one of the most active agents of the Irish movement in 1848; he is astonished that Smith O'Brien is not there ; he accuses James O'ConneU of having betrayed the cause'which his iUustrious brother so powerfuUy served; he designates The O'Donoghue as the future sovereign of emancipated Ireland, and declares that he sighs for the day when he wiU see him cro^wned. Passionate acclamations greet this hope, so audaciously expressed, and the mob separates in a sort of moral intoxica tion in which joy for the predicted triumph is mingled •with fury. "What think you of aU this? Is it not a striking and threatening symptom of the state of feeling in Ireland ? And Heaven knows if there be not yet more terrible symptoms ! ShaU I speak of the frightful war which the Irish cottier has declared against the landlords, whom he considers as his tyrants ? ShaU I speak of those frequent murders of which it is impossible to discover any traces, because the murderers, as MR. BRIGHT AT BIRMINGHAM. 267 formerly the banditti in Corsica, find everywhere a refuge, everywhere protectors, everywhere accompUces ? There exists an abyss between CathoHc Ireland and Pro testant England; between Ireland, devoured by want, and England, bloated with riches ; between Ireland of Celtic origin, and England of Saxon origin. Imprudent, indeed, are they who, in the latter country, assign as a motive for the sfrange sympathies with which the revolt of the Southern Planters against the Northern States inspfres them, the right possessed by the slave-owners of proclaiming their inde pendence sword in hand. LETTER CXII. ME. BEIGHT AT BIEMINGHAM. f December 20th, 1862. The day before yesterday, after a long sUence that has been much remarked, Mr. Bright fiUed with his ringing voice the vast To^wn HaU of Birmingham, where nearly five thousand persons had gathered together to hear him. By his side was Mr. Scholefield, Hke himself, one of the representatives of Birmingham in the House of Commons. Mr. Scholefield, •with whom I have the honour of being in timately acquainted, is a man of a most amiable disposition, and of an essentiaUy French turn of mind. FamiUarised through a long residence in France with pur manners, habits, and ideas, and speaking French as weU as if he had been bom in Paris, Mr. Scholefield is, of aU the EngUshmen of my acquaintance, the very last whom I should have expected to see embrace the cause of the American planters ; the more so, that the Liberal parfy in the House of Commons has no more devoted or more persevering organ than himself. It is, however, too true that Mr. Scholefield is a partisan of the South, and nothing more clearly shows the force of the current which draws to that side opinions and sympathies in England.' 268 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. At Birmingham, though agreeing "'with Mr. Bright on most questions of internal policy, Mr. Scholefield has not hesitated to openly separate from him on the American question. Not that he goes so far as to desire an intervention, which in his opinion, would be meeting war half-way, or a mediation, which, as he thinks, would draw down the affront of a re fusal; but what he does desire is, that England should at last take the step of recognising the South. A fact, which I rejoice to be able to report isj that this declaration of Mr. Scholefield was not at aU favourably re ceived by a considerable portion of the audience. And in that there "is nothing to surprise any one who knows how far in aU that concerns America, the tendencies of the working population in the great manufacturing centres, differ from those of ^England taken collectively. To Httle purpose have these unfortunate artisans been repeatedly assured that thefr own distress, and that of their brothers, had its source in the cruel obstinacy of the North ; that the evil proceeded from the want of cotton, and there was no cotton because the North pretended, per fas et nefas, to subdue the South. A sure instinct has prompted them to reply to aU : " We cannot be for slave-labour, we men of free labour." Loud applause accordingly burst forth when Mr. Bright arose, for everyone could read in his countenance his inten tion of replying to his coUeague. Mr. Bright began by throwing the responsibiUfy of the Lancashire crisis upon the defunct East India Company, whom he accused of not having encouraged the cultivation of .Indian cotton, as a precaution against what has now actuaUy happened. In support of this accusation, he recaUed to mind that in the three years which foUowed the aboHtion.of the Company's monopoly— which aboUtion was decreed in 1814 — the importation of Indian cotton rose from 17,000 to 500,000 bales, so that in 1818, England received more cotton from India than was sent to her from the United States. How was this ascending movement arrested ? It was ar rested, according to Mr. Bright, by the enormous burden of the taxes with which the Directors and the Board of Control overwhelmed the production. In 1846, it was shown that three -farthings per pound was the whole profit thathad to be ¦ divided between the Surat cultivator and the Bombay mer- MR. BRIGHT AT BIRMINGHAM. 269 chant. This state of things naturaUy brought about the almost absolute' extinction of the trade in Indian cotton ; and it explains the activity imparted to the production of Ame rican cotton, which, represented in 1840 by two miUions of bales, rose to four miUions in 1860, which signifies that it had doubled in the space of twenty years. AU that is true -, and it is also true that it is not Mr. Bright's fault if England has not, since 1847, seriously dfrected her attention to the causes which, to borrow the energetic expression of the orator, strangled the cultivation ' of cotton in India. He has himself traced in singularly bitter terms the history of his o^wn efforts, frequently renewed, but always baffled by a heedless or red-tape poHcy. But supposing that the Committee, the appointment of which in 1 847 was due to Mr. Bright's initiative, and which condemned the system of the Indian Government in reference to agriculture, had carried out his views ; supposing that the Royal Cominission of Inquiry, the nomination of which Mr. Bright demanded in 1850, without succeeding in overcoming the opposition of Sfr John Hobhouse, had been instituted and had entered upon its functions ; supposing, lastly, that through reduction of the taxation, the Indian grower had been offered the aUure- ment of a more considerable profit ; the question would stUl remain to be answered, whether, American cotton being of a superior quaHty, and the American market nearer at. hand, India could in this respect have held her own against America. This is what Mr. Bright ought to have proved, but which he passed over in complete silence. Besides, whether or not, in former times, the EngHsh Govemment failed in foresight, that is not the point, it must be Owned, which the pubUc at the present ..moment cares to determine ; and the Government, I fancy, would very gladly cry to Mr. Bright as the chUd in the fable who feU into the water cries to the schoolmaster who is scolding him : " Ah, my friend ! drag me out of this danger, and you can make your speech, afterwards." Mr. Bright was conscious of that, and was therefore, ready to propose what he esteems a sovereign remedy. This remedy consists in exempting from taxation for a period of five years aU land in India devoted to the growth of cotton. The process is, no doubt,, very simple, and it is reasonable 270 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. to expect that this form of encouragement, combined with the actual rise of prices, would have some influence on the move ment of the Indian market. At the same time, I greatly fear that Mr. Bright is mistaken in supposing that on the day when this system should come into play, the woes of Lancashire would verge on their termination. There is un fortunately a cause which, no matter what is done, withholds speculation and capital from Indian cotton. This cause is the fear of the ruinous competition which wUl arise, whenever the American war shaU come to an end, from the quantify of cotton accumulated in the South, and to which peace wiU re open the way to Europe. It is in this, as has frequently been remarked by Mr. Cobden, whose authority wiU not be ques tioned by Mr. Bright, that Hes the danger which weighs fataUy upon the market and paralyses everything that relates to cotton. Mr. Bright is convinced that the South wUl be crushed. ' He affirms that it is aU over with cotton produced by slave labour. Very good ; but very many persons here, to begin with Mr. Gladstone, think the contrary. To induce England to turn her eyes decidedly in the direction of India, it is necessary first to make her believe in the definitive friumph of the North, and that is precisely what she does not beUeve. Again, what is this exemption from taxation which Mr. Bright demands in favour of a certain class of men, and for the avowed purpose of favouring a certain kind of in dustry, but an appUcation of the theory of protection ? Here an objection presents itself which Mr. Bright did not foresee. but which has afready been produced under the form of an argumentum ad hominem in the columns of the Times, and in those of the Morning Herald. How can Mr. Bright, the free trader par excellence, invoke the intervention o,f the Govem ment in the department of exchanges ? How comes it that he, one of the most bitter opponents of the protectionist system, cries out for assistance from the protectionist system ? And how is it that he did not see that this portion of the pubUc revenue which he asks shaU be removed from the growers of cotton, would have to be replaced by new taxes on the Indian population, which would thus be completely ex hausted in order to aUay the distress of one county in England. Where Mr. Bright triumphed was in that portion of his speech which related to the question of slavery. Never did MR. BRIGHT AT BIRMINGHAM. 271 the emotion of an indignant spfrit pour itself forth in more eloquent terms. What! be England, — and have before her the South, which desires not only to maintain slavery, but to extend it ; and have before her the North, which has pro claimed abolition, — and yet tenders a hand to the South ! Mr. Bright did weU to insist upon this point, for it is the one which the partisans of the South study most carefuUy to place in the shade. To hear them, the two enemies who are facing each other on the other side of 'the Atlantic are the spfrit of national independence, as represented by the South, and the spirit of conquest represented by the North. "In what part of the world," exclaimed Mr. Scholefield, "could Englishmen behold 'without a feeling of sympathy a nation strugghng for its independence ! " But what does that mean to say ? Is that an independence worthy of your respect which consists in reducing to the condition of cattle a part of the human race ? The Uberfy which you reverence, is it the Hberty of being tyrannical ? What is so sad to state is, that the same'men who designate as " a 'vindication of the principle of national independence," the brusque, 'violent, injustifiable rupture of the voluntary contract in vfrtue of which the South and the North had Hved so long together united, — these same men, I say, never speak but with horror of any attempt having for its aim the separa tion of Ireland from England. Either I am greatly mistaken, or these partisans of the Southern Confederates would do well to think of Ireland when 'fliey proclaim so loudly under the name of independence, the right of a part to detach itself from the whole. The Irish are nbt of the same race as the English ; they do not profess the same religion ; they have neither the same manners, nor the same character ; and when they read the history of thefr union with the EngHsh, they find in it nothing but frritating memories. If, perchance, they should happen to fancy them selves more justified than the Southern planters in reclaiming the advantages of an independent nationaUty, what answer could Mr. Scholefield give, or they who, Hke him, go about incessantly repeating: "In what part of the world could Englishmen behold 'without a feeling of sympathy a people sfruggling for its independence ? " 272 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. LETTER CXIII. INDIVIDUALS SUSPECTED OP MENTAL ABEEEATION IN ENGLAND. December 26th, 1862. Or done, mariez-vous — Or done, ne vous mariez pas. So spake Rabelais after carefuUy weighing the pros and cons, relative to the great question of knowing if one does weU to marry. If Rabelais had lived in our time in England, he would have had, I imagine, an additional reason to inscribe on the Ust of motives to be given in favour of the negative conclusion ; and this reason, which you would never guess, is that a husband in this country, if he has quite made up his mind to believe his wife unfaithful to him, is in danger, for that sole fact, and on the simple certificate of two medical men, of being arrested, dragged from his home, carried off to a lunatic asylum, and there treated as a man who has lost his reason, which is enough to make him lose it. What I am saying to you looks like a jest. But it is not so : I am perfectly serious, and the action for damages which has just been gained by a Mr. HaU against a certain Dr. Semple is proof of it. This Mr. HaU, it appears, is a worthy man who has never exhibited any other symptom of insanity than a strong dis position to doubt the virtue of his wife. In the lady's eyes there could not be a^ worse form of insanity, as you may weU suppose. She therefore conceived the idea one fine morning, after thirty years of married Hfe, that there were grounds for shutting up her husband in an asylum for lunatics. This long union of thirty years had not been without clouds, but that need hardly be said. Mr. HaU was not always in a good humour, and Mrs. HaU, who was much addicted to pawning her husband's goods and chattels had, besides, the bad practice of giving heroic proportions to the smaUest conjugal quarrel. That apart, nothing really dramatic had passed in the interior of this homestead ; nothing of a nature to lead one to foresee that OtheUo would ever essay to smother LEGISLATION FOR LUNATICS. 273 Desdemona with the pillows of her bed. But that was not the questioui Mrs. HaU thought it so strange that anyone should suspect her, that in her eyes there could be no more decisive symptom of mental aberration. By whom was she enUghtened as to the legislation of England with respect to lunatics, and how came she to measure so nicely the force of the weapon which such a legislation placed in her hands ? That is a mystery which was not cleared up at the trial. It is evident, however, that on that point she knew perfectly weU what to do. She accordingly communicates her apprehensions and her project to two medical men who enjoyed her confidence, and shows one of them a mfrror which she declares her husband shattered with the shovel. The man of science shuddered at the sight : without doubt Mr. HaU was affiicted with a derangement of the brain ! Thereupon Dr. Semple hastens to the husband, to subject him, whether he wiU or no, to a severe examination, feeling his pulse, making him show his tongue, and proving to him by a host of reasons that he is too mad to go about loose. Naturally the good man is much surprised, and not less shocked, . at this unexpected visit. But instead of kicking the doctor downstafrs, which a man in fuU possession of his faculties would very Hkely have done in such circumstances, he merely gazes with an afr of astonish ment at the friend who wanted to save him by aU possible means, and, what is worse, looks at him fixedly. Do you remember the famous scene in which Jean- Jacques Rousseau arrived at the conclusion that Hume, his benefactor, was in reaUty his most cruel enemy ? " One evening as David Hume and I were seated in sUence by the fire-side, I caught his , eyes earnestly fi^xed upon mine. Suddenly he darted a glance at me. Ah ! that glance of Hume ! That glance ! " Well, Hume's glance did not produce mPre effect upon Rousseau than did Mr. HaU's glance upon Dr. Semple. On his part, Mr. Guy, the other medical man, reposed in the lady's vera city a confidence in the inverse ratio of that which her virtue inspfred in her husband. The thing was done. The two requisite certificates were signed by the two sureties for the lady's impeccabiUty, and poor Mr. HaU was carried off without further delay to a lunatic asylum. Now, this terrible Dr. Semple was so anxious to cure the .unhappy man of the mania VOL. II. I 274 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. of being free, that the very same day, he 'wrote to the manager of the establishment : " On no account let him go out ; he is a dangerous madman." Fortunately, there is a Providence also for sceptical husbands. It happened that one of the two certificates was irregular in form. But for this truly providential circum stance no one can say precisely for how long a time Mr. Hall might have remained, — what I shall caU without circumlocution — buried alive ; for it is a very generaUy accepted theory with mad-doctors that insane persons are very cunning, and contrive in a wonderful manner to mislead one as to their mental condition ; so that our imaginary madman might very weU have shown himself indisputably reasonable without, for aU that, being set at Hberty presdous to undergoing a painful and humiliating ordeal. Be that as it may, once at liberty he lost no time in appealing to the law courts against the excessively tender solicitude from which he had suffered, and it was proved at the trial that the order for his confinement was given, not only without sufficient grounds, but in vfrtue of reasons that were ridiculous. Of course, the two medical gentlemen did not very readily accept this decision. With a coura,ge worthy of a better cause they maintained to the very last that the malady, the cure of which they had undertaken, 'without shrinking from the use of exfreme measures, was " a disease of certain senti ments likely to engender passion, 'violence, and even murder." The theory is not an encouraging one, and husbands who live unhappUy 'with susceptible wives must look weU to themselves ! • However, there is one point which may somewhat restore their courage, and that is the solemn declaration of the judge, who expressed himself in these words : "A husband may detest his wife and not be mad." Neither M. de la Palisse, nor Solomon, could have said anything better. It stUl remained to be seen if Dr. Semple would escape with the fright. The jury, composed of worthy men, could not bring themselves to believe that the two medical men had been animated by bad motives ; but, being at the same time composed of husbands, they were eqilaUy unwUHng to pardon errors so carelessly committed in such a deHcate matter, and 'LEGISLATION FOR LUNATICS. 275 Dr. Semple has consequently found himself condemned to pay £150 for damages. This trial, which has keenly interested pubUc opinion, is in fact of great importance,' inasmuch as it exposes the defects of English legislation concerning the insane, and which is con nected at all points 'wi^h the great principle of individual liberfy. Strange contradiction ! In France, where governments have always held this principle very cheap in their relations with beings endowed with reason, it is guarded by the loi sur les alienes with admirable foresight and a prodigaUty of precau tions to which it would be difficult to make any addition ; whereas in England, where the individual is so powerfuUy . protected against every attempt at poHtical despotism, he is deUvered over, almost defenceless, to medical despotism. And, in the first place, in the fact of the imprisonment of a man afflicted, or supposed to be afflicted, with mental aberra tion- — I say imprisonment, because a madhouse is, after aU, a prison — ^the authorities here have no power to interfere. Any two medical men have only to sign each a certificate affirming the fact of insanify, for the individual so described to be arrested and carried off to a place of safety by agents under their orders, and 'without any reference to a magistrate. More than that : there is nothing to prevent the individual from being placed in an asylum belonging to one of the doctors who cause him to be shut up ! Then as to the manner in which the law requires the certi ficates to be drawn up, that also is' open to criticism. It is la'wful, for instance, for the attesting medical man to cite in support of his opinion not only the facts observed by himself, but also those which he knows only by hearsay. If it pleases him to found his opinion on what he has learned from his coUeague — which reduces the testimony of two men of science to that of one — there is no clause in the letter of the law to prevent him from doing so. Lastly, the necessity of a careful pre- Hminary inquiry is not specified. The only measures, from the social point of view, which protect individuals confined as mad in private asylums, consist in the powers confided by the Lord ChanceUor to two Com missioners naitied " Masters in Lunacy," to whom are sub mitted . aU questions relating to the insane, and who draw £2,000 per annum, with a retiring 'pension. It naturally T 2 276 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. belongs to the functions of the Masters in Lunacy to visit from time to time the establishments placed under their surveU- lance, which are, besides, Hable to be visited at uncertain periods by two medical men and a lawyer, especiaUy appointed for this purpose. The law enjoins that the insane should be visited at least once a year : its injunctions do not go beyond that. If an individual who is suspected of being afHicted with mental aberration demands to be examined before a jury, his demand can be granted by the Lord ChanceUor ; but the costs of such a proceeding may become enormous. I remem ber having furnished you with a striking proof of this when giving you an account of the Windham affafr. A thing which you wUl hardly beUeve is that when an individual, who has committed a murder in a fit of insanify, is sent to Bedlam, he is condemned to never again recover his Uberfy, even in the event of recovering his reason. Lasciate ogni speranza. And why ? Because it is considered that society has a right to protect itself agairist the danger of a relapse. This is another of those anomaUes which astonish a stranger when he seeks to obtain an exact idea of the spirit w^hich has dictated the institutions and which governs the manners of this powerful and singular people ! For if there is a country in the world where care is taken to guard against the abuse of the preventive principle, it is assuredly England, and yet it is in ¦vfrtue of this principle that a man is there exposed to the frightful misfortune of expiating by a Hfe-long imprisonment the consequence of an involuntary and passing aberration. From this hasty notice it will be easy for you to conclude that, as regards the insane, English legislation is very defective. But, fortunately, the practice is better than the law. Nume rous abuses would be possible, but it would be unjust to say that numerous abuses are perpetrated ; and, so far, it is unde niable that pubHc opinion greatly exaggerates the necessity for a reform. It is true that it is a question relating to indi vidual liberty, — that is to say, one of those questions about which John BuU wiU not put up with any nonsense. A prompt reform of the Lunacy Act is therefore demanded with loud outcries; and the trial to which I have aUuded 'wiU confribute not a Httie, through the sensation it has produced, to bring about the desired result. CHRISTJIAS. 277 LETTER CXIV. cheistmas. Janua/ry Sth, 1863. Foe the last eight days England has been in the hands of a huge army of invasion, composed of heroes the taUest of whom is not three feet high. The invading force, of which I speak, is fuU of smiles and laughter, and is perfectly charm ing ; but never did the hordes of Attila or of Genghis Khan equal it in rapacity. Heaven knows what amount of tribute it has afready levied upon the conquered country ! But when this admirable festival arrives, which we caU Noel and the EngHsh Christmas, how is it possible to resist the chUdren ! On that day the schoolmaster flings away his cane ; tiresome books shut of themselves ; the " study " of Paterfamilias — that inviolable sanctuary — is sacked in triumph ; the house is turned upside do'wn, and everybody is laughing. The chUdren are the tyrants of the day. Their despotism is aU the more securely founded that everyone is deUghted to submit to it. For them the dealers in toys display their most briUiant freasures, the pastrycooks and confectioners thefr most succulent riches; for them the booksellers find them selves possessed at the right moment of myriads of engrav ings and illustrations, and of pretty little books in which human thought exhibits itself only in a garb of velvet and gold ; for them are impronsed in these sacred hours aU sorts of games, stories, charades, and songs; for them the misan thrope smooths his -wrinkles, and the morose turn into little chUdren. And the pantomimes ! And the beautiful fairies whose wands open diamond caverns ! And Harlequin, Clown, Pan taloon, Columbine ! For whom, pray, are all these wonders ? The pantomime, in truth, is the chUdren' s undisputed domain at Christmas. But it is worth seeing with what generosity these good dear Uttle princes admit us — ^us who have c,eased, alas ! to be chUdren, to partake of their pleasures ! Thanks to them, the pantomime constitutes the happiness of the papa 27S LETTERS ON ENGLAND. and the mamma, of uncle and aunt, of grandfathers and grandmothers, of aU the world and his wife. TeU me of any one theatre in London that, at Christmas time, would be bold enough not to give a pantomime ! And what a prodigious luxury of decoration ! How weU this people, who are sup posed to have quarreUed with art, understands causing aU the magnificence of the fafry realms to pass before our eyes ! What an enormous sum of money spent on enchanted lakes, fantastic rivers, splendidly impossible landscapes, and figu rantes, with faces like unto goddesses, suspended in the afr "What I, for my part, prize above aU, is this genius of mas querade which in no other country in the world displays itseH in such force as in England — I mean, at Christmas time. There are men-lions, men-cocks, men-jars, men-bottles, and men-turkeys to frighten one. The masks are of a grandeur out of aU proportion. Tartuffe's might be more securely attached, but it was certainly not equal in dimensions. As for the piece which serves as an introduction to Columbine's pirouettes, to the practical jokes of which the slippered Pan taloon makes the passer-by the victim, to those with which the Clown victimises the slippered Pantaloon, and to those in which the Clown is Harlequin's 'victim, it must be confessed it is very much the same thing everywhere and always. The very variations themselves are mono'tonous. Stupid the pantomime is to an absolutely inconcei-f able degree. But no matter ! Pan- tomimists are the comedians in ordinary to their majesties the chUdren. The essential point is, that there should be abun dant processions of gigantic masks, abundant changes as quick as thought, no stinted exchange of kicks and blows, and many a tripping-up and headlong tumble. Only, — and this is a point to which I invite the attention of phUosophers, — it so happens that gro-wn persons in England — that grave country — are as much amused as — I might almost say, more than — the children themselves. At every kick administered by the Clown to the Pantaloon, there are joyous stampings of the feet, and fits of Homeric laughter, of which people have no idea in countries -without fogs and without spleen. Whoso has not seen the EngHsh at a pantomime, or returning home from the Derby, wUl never know what England is. You may talk of the " FoUes-Dramatiques " at Paris, and of the " Deseente de la CourtUle ; " but to see genuine laughter, and CHRISTMAS. 279 to understand to what an uproarious point a crowd in a state of joyous intoxication can rise, you must come here. But what I have just sketched presents only one side of the picture. There is another one, which I ought not to omit, the more so that it is, I fear, the most important. Christmas is a festival essentiaUy EngHsh, and what makes it so is that it is the festival of " good Hving." On Christmas morning there is not an EngUshman who is not in a good humour ; and if you would know the exact reason why, you have only to traverse London the day before. Whatever addresses itseK to the palate, through the medium of the eyes, is displayed in the streets with a truly national complacency, from the Spanish onion, the colour of flre, to those enormous joints of meat which are seen only in England, and which look Uke an offering to the appetite of Gargantua. In fact, the dinner of dinners here is the Christmas dinner, at which those tra ditional and venerated dishes flgure on the table — the turkey, the mince-pie, and the plum pudding. It need scarcely be said that the festivities of Christmas are not Umited to that. There are dances characteristic of the season, kisses stolen beneath the mistletoe, flaming bowls of punch, long stories which the grandsfre relates to his family gathered round him before a good fire. Have you read Charles Dickens's novels ? Mr. Pickwick may be considered as the type of the real English gentleman at Christmas ; he embraces the young ladies, and is embraced by them ; he lends a patient ear to tales'without end ; he squares himself in front of the fire ; and drinks as much punch as possible. To teU the truth, certain grumbHng moraUsts pretend, that nowadays things do not pass exactly in this fashion. They affirm that the famous YiUe log is a pure fradition. They assert that, sO far as they themselves are concerned, they have never' either taken or received the smaUest kiss under the mistletoe. Without denying — for thefr audacify does not. go so far as that — the reverence shown at Christmas to the turkey and plum pudding, they declare that Christmas indigestions are much more rare than might be supposed, from reading the novels and stories which constitute what is caUed Christmas Uterature. In short, they appear to blush for what, in the eyes of the immortal creator of Gargantua and Pantagruel, would be the glory of England. . For my 280 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. part, aU that I can teU you is, that since I have resided in England, I have seen many things which closely enough re semble what is'described in Christmas literature ; and I may add that you wiU see everywhere advertisements of digestive pills for the use of those who stiU celebrate Christmas' as their forefathers did before them. Be that as it may, there would be no cause to rejoice if men, in the midst of their bitterest griefs, were not some times induced to contemplate life under its least melancholy aspect. The year which has just closed has been one of hardship for many people, nor is the opening year free from anxious misgi-vings. The war which devastates the New World has been for the Old World a terrible trial, and one that is not yet concluded. The heart is wrung when one thinks of what Christmas rejoicings must have been in Lancashire. When I said that at Christmas the children are kings, I forgot the children of the poor. Oh* ! how they must suffer ! But at Christmas there is one who suffers more than the poor man's chUd — it she who weeps because of him. LETTER CXV. -what is to be done with the ceiminals ? JaniMvry 6th, 1863. Yet a few days, and our lords and masters, the children, wUl have levied upon us our last tribute, eaten their last bon-bon, broken their last toy, and greeted with their last peal of laughter, in company with their parents, the wag geries of Harlequin. Time, which sweeps away everything, has swept away the joys of Christmas. That great EngHsh festival is afready a thing of the past. London, that monster city, has swallowed up, in the twinkling of an eye, into its prodigious stomach the PantagrueHc joints of meat, and the myriads of ribbon-bedecked turkeys which only the other day were hanging up at every butcher's staU. ¦WHAT IS TO BE DONE "WITH THE CRIMINALS? 281 There has been eaten in every house, as usual, the tra ditional dinner, at which the mince-pie and the plum pudding invariably figure in the place of honour. Very many kisses are supposed to have been traitorously stolen beneath the mistletoe ; and if the Yule log, which is no longer kindled, I fear, except in Charles Dickens's ^novels, or in the engra'vings of the Illustrated London News, has nowhere crackled, we may be at least quite certain, that under many thousands of roofs, a good coal fire has lighted up a joyous family scene. But, I repeat, aU that is already far away from us. Gloomy thoughts and bitter anxieties now return to us. We must again roU up our rock. What characterised London during the last days of the year which has just terminated, was an alarming increase in the number of nocturnal out rages committed by malefactors ; and what characterises London in the first days of the year that is now commencing, is a not less alarming increase in the number of infanticides. On Friday last, Mr. H. Raffles Walthew, who discharges in the eastern part of the county of Middlesex the functions of coroner, was caUed upon, to hold an inquest at the Black Horse Tavern, Kingsland Road, Shoreditch, on the body of an infant found dead in a cistern, one of whose shoulders had been gnawed by the rats. The same day, . in the same district, was discovered another infant stretched Hfeless, and in a state of complete nudity, at the entrance to St. Leonard's Cemetery.. On the following day was seen floating on the Thames, opposite Limehouse Causeway, a dead body, which was also that of a child; and almost at the same hour, another dead body, that of an infant, was fotmd, partiaUy enveloped in rags, in the Regent's Canal, Old Ford Road, Victoria Road. Christmas, as you see, has not poured upon all his horn of plenty. There are mothers who have no Chjistmas-boxes to give to their children ! For, to speak of infanticide is to speak of an attack of dementia : and how is such appalling dementia to be explained ? How is it to be conceived that a mother should ever be re duced to abandon or to kill her own child, if the sUghtest hope remained to her of being able to feed it ? It is here that is seen in all its horror, in aU its fatality, the brotherhood of want and crime. 282 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. What there is of horror in this association, everyone feels ; but how many tremble to recognise what there is of fatality in it, in the dreadful sense attached to that word by the ancients ! Want, that is the empoisoned robe, the robe of Dejanira, of which societies must absolutely take measures to disembarrass themselves if they do not wish to have to do with crime. So long as that is not understood, criminal lawyers wiU write books to no purpose, and phUanthro pists wUl exhaust themselves in vain efforts. If any one doubt this, let him study the history of this English penal system, the reform of which is not only proclaimed necessary, but is at this moment the subject of general anxiety. What is to be done with our criminals ? That is at the present moment the momentous question. There is not a journal that has not taken it up, not an economist who has not meditated on it, not a statesman who is not troubled by it. Every one has a remedy or an expedient to propose. There is abundance of schemes. The discussion never ceases. But the more this painful subject is probed, the more is the extreme difficulty recognised of finding, or even getting a gUmpse of, an issue. There was a time when, to get rid of the criminals, they were summarUy hanged out of the way. A simple act of larceny was a hanging matter. It was an abominajjle mode of solving the problem, but at least it was one mode of solving it, if it be true that dead men do not come back to life. However, as civilisation could not gain ground without the executioner losing ground, the moment could not faU to arrive when society would cease kUling people to teach them how to Hve. The "moment did arrive ; and distant colonies, trans formed into lazaretti of crime, received the plague-smitten members whom the mother country had to send to them. But these colonies became rich and fiourishing ; and the conse quence was that they very soon resolutely closed thefr ports to the cargoes of malefactors -of whom the mother country was so much interested in getting rid. Then the tragic question pre-; sented itself : " What is to be done with our criminals ?" Since society had given up kiUing them, it had become necessary to keep them alive, and since it was no longer per mitted to send them far away, there was no choice but to keep them close at hand. But how take care of them ? And -where "WHAT IS TO BE DONE WITH THE CRIMINALS? 283 put them ? Supposing the prisons to be large enough to con tain aU the malefactors up to that time, were they large enough to contain those of the morrow, and of the day after the morrow, and of the day after that again, unless it was so arranged that they should make room for one lot by occa- sionaUy gi'ving freedom to another ? But the adoption of such a measure was equivalent to periodicaUy letting loose upon society men of prey. It is true there was one other resource, which was to construct for these wUd beasts menageries suffi ciently numerous and sufficiently spacious, the bars of which should open always to receive, but never to let out. But here again sociefy stumbled against a serious obstacle, the expense ; and it was discovered that crime is very costly. The problem, whose solution was being sought, began from that time to present itself under a new aspect. Instead of asking what should be done with the criminals, people inqufred if there were no means of doing away with crime, and of attacking in its causes an evil the effects of which it was so difficult to exorcise. The right path was now entered upon, for the question could not be better enimciated. But unfortunately a mistake was made as to the causes, and a very grievous mistake, for that was taken for a cause which was only a consequence. It was resolved that, two steps from the hovel in which the pauper's children were left to receive from extreme poverfy the education of -vice, there should be prisons in which moraUty should be taught and the Bible read to vUlains grown grey in crime. , It was resolved that, once in prison, criminals should be weU housed, weU fared, weU cared for, as a reward for a semblance of repentance ; and at the same time society aban doned to the despotism of poverty, a despotism a hundred times more brutal and more formidable than aU forms of human despotism, the honest working man, that is to say, him who had not thought it right to acqufre social protection by the use of the dagger ! To render more easy for the criminals, whom the chaplain was appointed to catechise, thefr reconcUiation with society, they were dazzled by the prospect of a ticket-of-leave, as a recompense for their return to virtuous sentiments, or, in other words, the promise of being restored to Hberty before the expiration of thefr sentence ; but it was not foreseen that the destitution which awaited them on coming out of prison would soon bring them back to it. 284 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. The situation created by the application of this penal system is the most singular thing in the world. It is literaUy frue that in England the material condition of the criminal is superior to that of the pauper fed by the parish, whUe that of the pauper fed by the parish is superior to that of many working men. I have before me a report, written about 1860, by one of the superintendents of the prison at Portland. The dietary of that prison at that date — and I fancy there has not been any change since then — was as foUows : — ¦ It contained on an average 1500 prisoners, who were for the most part employed in quarrying stones for the construc tion of a breakwater. Their working day consisted of ten hours in summer; in winter it finished with the daylight. The quantity of stone quarried daUy by each con-vict was com puted at three tons, and his daily earnings at two shUlings. As to the diet of the prisoners, it consisted, per head, per diem, of one pint of tea, one pint of cocoa, one pint of exceUent broth, one pound of vegetables, six ounces of ncieat without bone, and twenty-seven ounces of wheaten bread of the first quality. How many honest folk in England would think themselves fortunate to be fed after this manner, who -w'ork twice as hard and produce thrice as much ! It is still to be remarked that the gaol of which I have been speaking is by no means the one in which criminals are best treated. In some of them beer is given on certain occasions. At Gibraltar they receive two ounces of tobacco a week, and a quarter of a pint of rum every time they are employed on any peculiarly offensive labour. At Dartmoor, where the managers of the prison employ on external works both the criminals who are under their care and labourers whom they pay, it is easy to judge of the scandalous difference that exists between the condition of the former and that of the latter. While these exhaust themselves, those play with their work, and when night comes the honest men are stiU toiling long after the rogues have supped and gone to bed. Is there any need for me to indicate the results of such a penal system in a coiintry gnawed by the cancer of pauperism ? It would be a miracle if crime were not powerfully encouraged where a prison is made preferable to a workshop. And how can the law inspire any terror in the guilty, when it permits 'WHAT IS TO BE DONE "WITH THE CRIMINALS? 285 punishment to be weUnigh converted into recompense ? Since the introduction of tickets-of-leave, judges have lost the power of measuring the force and range of the weapon they hold in their hands ; strictly speaking, there are no more life sen tences ; whatever may be the tenour of the judgment, there are no more condemnations for a definite period. It depends upon the criminal himself — and he is weU aware of it — to partiaUy annul the sentence that punishes him. To do that he need only, .by a weU simulated resignation, faciUtate the task of the governor of the gaol, and fiatter the vanity of the chaplain by appearing to lend a charmed ear to his sermons. A garotter who was sentenced the other day, at the Central Criminal Court, by Bwon Bramwell, had been converted fifteen times, and I know not how many chaplains have pledged themselves to the sincerity of his repentance. Do I mean to say that there is nothing but foUy in the desire to reform a criminal, and to convert punishment itself into a means Pf education ? If I do not mistake, it was Diderot who gave the bold definition, " The Evildoee is an Invalid." Are we to regard these as the words of a mad man ? ShaU we declare absolutely irreconcilable the necessity of punishing and the hope of curing ? ShaU we forget that such or such a ruffian might have been an honest man, if his freedom of choice had not been perverted from his cradle by surrounding circumstances ; if he had not, as it were, sucked in the poison of vice in poverty ; if he had not grown up in the midst of corrupting influences and temptations ; if, in a word, he had not been the victim, from his efitrance upon life, of that tyranny -which is composed of ignorance, hunger, abandonment, bad examples — of aU that darkens the under standing, of all that empoisons the soul ? Heaven forbid that such a conclusion should be mine ! But I cannot conceal, though I confess it with sorrow, that it is what appears to prevaU here, under the infiuence of the nocturnal scenes of violence of which London has lately been the theatre. Philanthropy, ha-ying had its turn, no longer dares to raise its voice. Severity, under its roughest aspect, is the order of the day. Passion is in possession of the House. It would take very little, as far as criminals are concerned, to pass from excess of indulgence to the opposite extreme. It is the eternal history of reactions. Recur to the penalty of death 285 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. for offences which have ceased to belong to the hangman's domain, is what nobody dare ad-sdse. And yet what is to be done? There is no choice but to feed criminals, or put them to death, or run the risk of being put to death by them, or transport them beyond the seas far, very far away, sufficiently far to be separated from them by aU the bUlows of the ocean. Transport them ! That is what everybody would like to do with them. But whither ? The colonies reject them. Create for them penal colonies at the ends of the world, beyond the contact of other men — that might perhaps be done, on the condition of spending enormous sums to render again possible abominations the very idea of which appals one. And then to banish the plague is a poor expedient, so long as one keeps up the home of the pestUence. Try to put down want, if you can ; you wUl not then have any occasion for sanitary cordons against crime. I was speaking of Christmas at the commencement of my letter^of Christmas ! It is long ago now since St. Augustine said : " Rejoice, ye righteous men, behold the bfrthday of the Judge ; Rejoice, ye who are sick and feeble, behold the birth day of the Redeemer ; Rejoice, ye slaves, behold the birthday of the Deliverer ; Rejoice, ye free men, behold the birthday of the Lord ; Rejoice, ye Christians, behold the birthday of Christ." And it is stiU longer ago, it is now two thousand years, since the Redeemer came : but when wiU come the Redemption ? LETTER CXVI. A PEOPLE IN QUEST OF A KING. Jan-uary 12th, 1863. That Diogenes had need of a lantern to find an honest man, is conceivable, for honest men are rare ; but that the Greeks should have ' need of a lantern to find a King, is not conceivable. Kings ! One would fancy there was abundance A PEOPLE IN QUEST OF A KING. 287 of them. Des rois ? fen ai tant vu de rois ! said the old woman of Beranger's song. However, many pretend that, in consequence of Prince Alfred's refusal to accept the crown of a country less populous, according to certain EngUshmen of my acquaintance, than the parish of Marylebone in London, Greece is in a state of embarrassment, so difficult is it for her to discover a treasure of a kingling. For my part I beHeve, in spite of rumours and appearances, that the country which produced Miltiades, Themistocles, Leonidas, and aU the republican heroes admired by us when we were at coUege, and ever since then, would very easily resign herself to having no civil list to pay, if she were aUowed to act as she pleased. Not that I question the spon taneity of the votes which called Prince Alfred to the throne of Greece ; but who is there that does not understand that this spontaneify had nothing to do with any particular reve rence for the monarchical form of government ? The Greeks were impatient for the restitution of the Ionian Islands ; they recognised the necessity of a powerful protection ; they were anxious to disarm the expected hostility of England against the moment when they should draw the sword against the, Turk. If their enthusiasm for a prince whom they did not know, whom nobody knows, who does not yet know himself — a beardless prince, a prince who is not of the Greek reUgion ; if their enthusiasm had had motives of a platonic character, it would have been one of the most inexpUcable impulses of which history has ever made mention. Wonderful, in truth, are the airs of superiorify assumed by the great Powers towards the poor Greeks. "Do not name an Italian prince," cries Austria, " or you wUl smart for it." " Remember," exclaims Russia, " that what you require is a King professing the Greek faith. That is indispensable." " Expect nothing from me," says England, "if you have the bad taste to form yourselves into a. republic, instead of taking my ' bear.' " So that, in short, the Powers in question who disagree on so many other points, are cordially agreed as to the propriety of treating Greece as a nation in a state of tutelage. And yet, by what right ? ShaU we look for their title to this high pafronage, which is slightly arrogant, and might become very intermeddling, in the Treaty of London, of the 288 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. 6th July, 1827 ? or in the protocol of the 22nd March, 1829 ? or in that of the 3rd February, 1830 ? or in the convention of the 9th May, 1832 ? Not one of these diplomatic docu ments implies the abdication by Greece of her personahty as a nation. Far from that. The treaty ofthe 6th July, 1827, signed by France, England, and Russia, proposes, as a means of putting an end to the quarrels between Greece and Turkey, a sort of mixed system of government according to which the Greeks themselves should elect their rulers, the Sultan retaining a certain con trol over the nominations. The refusal of the Turks to accept this arrangement, to which the Greeks assented, resulted in the battle of Nava rino ; which battle, by shaking the very foundations of the Ottoman Empire, led to the protocol of the 22nd March, 1829. But what does that protocol teach us? That the three Powers wiU do their utmost to obtain for the Greeks a separate and distinct Government under an hereditary chief, on the condition that they recognise the suzerainty of the SlUtan, and pay him an annual tribute. This was leaving Greece dependent on the Sultan, but it was not making her dependent on the three aUied Powers. This time again the Turks resisted. Russia made war upon them on her own account. They were vanquished ; and their position having become worse than before, they were at last compeUed to submit to conditions far more severe than those they had refused in 1827 and in 1829. The protocol of the 3rd February, 1830, was imposed upon them, and Greece existed as a state separated from Turkey. But did this protocol create for Greece a new form of dependence ? What she gained on the side of the Turks, did she consent to lose on the side of Europe ? Not at aU. For the first stipulation of the protocol of the 3rd February, 1830, is as foUows : " Greece shaU be an independent State, and shaU enjoy all the political, administrative, and commercial rights which result from an absolute independence." What can be imagined more clear, I ask ? There remains the convention of . the 9th May, 1832, in -virtue of which a crown was placed on the head of Otho ; and it is quite true that it was from the hands of the three alUed powers that he received it. But it must not be lost sight of A PEOPLE IN QUEST OF A KING. 289 that on that occasion they acted as if authorised by a solemn act of the Greek nation. It is therefore with infinite reason that, taking as his guide this chapter of modern diplomatic history, the writer of a letter recently inserted in the Morning Post opposes aU pre tensions on the part of the Powers to dictate to the Greeks their destinies. Greece is an independent State, as indepen dent as Russia, or France, or England ; and if she is con demned to become a vassal of diplomacy, it is doubtful if she has gained much by the violent rupture of the bonds which attached her to Turkey. At the present time, indeed, when we are no longer com pletely under the empire of the classic enthusiasm which greeted the naval victory of Navarino as an episode worthy to form a sequence to the ancient wonders of the siege of Troy, it may perhaps be permitted to acknowledge what is simply true, that the Turkish rule was always characterised by a singular character of tolerance. Under the government of the Turks not only did the Greeks enjoy a Hberty of commerce unknown to many peoples of Europe, but they exercised a right of control over the payment of taxes which might almost excite the envy of the United States, England, and Switzerland. Did not Mr, Stratford-Canning, afterwards Lord Steatford de Redcliffe, formally declare at the Con ferences of Poros, that it would be both unjust and dangerous to despoil the Greeks " of the municipal privileges and representative rights whieh they had enjoyed under the Turks"? Mr. Parish, in his "Diplomatic History of the Monarchy in Greece," gives credit to the Turks for having scrupulously respected the municipal liberties of the Greeks. He says, in speaking of the Peloponnesus : " No tax, what ever its nature might be, could be levied without the express consent of the provincial councU, and without that of the mayors of towns, boroughs, and vUlages." To the mayors was confided the duty of dividing the imposts among the different famUies. Is that equivalent to saying that the Greeks did wrong to assert their autonomy, even by arms, and to combat in order to have a country of their O'wn ? Such a conclusion can never be that of the friends of liberty and justice ; and it is pre cisely because such a conclusion is not mine, that I should 290 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. grieve to see the Greeks, after so many heroic efforts to attain their independency, faU from one kind of vassalage into another, and aUow a form of government to be imposed upon them at the pleasure of such or such a Power, or such or such secret conclave of Powers leagued together, and so pass under thefurcce caudinm of diplomacy. It is certain that by being herself she incurs less danger than by being English or Russiaji. If she chain herself to the policy of England, as woiUd seem to be her intention, judging by the election of Prince Alfred, she risks aUenating herself from Russia, who, alone, is strongly interested in the dismemberment of the Turkish Empire. If she chain herseK to the poUcy of the Russians, she risks b,eing seconded by them in her designs upon Turkey, only to be devoured in her turn a Uttle later. But can Greece do as she wishes, supposing she has a clear insight as to what she ought to wish ? And what hope has she of being heard, where might alone is Ustened to ? If this question were put to me as regards Greece, I should reply : The division which reigns between the .strong, is the strength of the feeble. LETTER CXVIL ENGLAND SCOLDED SY ME. BRIGHT. January 16th, 1863. What I admire in Mr. Bright even more than the fire of his eloquence, is the indomitable character of his courage. Tribunes are sometimes only courtiers of a false colour ; but he is indubitably a tribune in the highest sense of the word. He never flatters any species of royalty. His detractors accuse him of ambition.- A strange ambition must that man have who never utters a word which does not tend to make him impossible as a minister, not a word which is not of a nature to render himself unpopular ! It is worth ENGLAND SCOLDED BY MR. BRIGHT. 291 noticing with what haughty disdain he treats public opinion, in a country in which public opinion holds the sceptre ! It is worth observing with what a proud sort of satisfaction he,. himseK an Englishman, contradicts all EngHsh tendencies ! England, without being of a quarrelsome humour, has a profound faith in the efficacy of forcible measures : Mr. Bright maintains that the best mode of disconcerting an attack is by never thinking about self-defence. England is so embued with the aristocratic sentiment, that this sentiment is found everywhere, — in the poor man who goes along bent beneath his burden, as weU as in the lord whose horses bespatter him in passing : Mr. Bright aUows no opportunity to escape him of attacking aristocracy by aiming at its head. England claims right of property over the ocean : Mr. Bright sees in the sea only the highway of nations. England plumes herseK upon her manner of governing the foreign countries over which her sway is extended : Mr. Bright denounces the government of India as a government of spoUation and oppression. England insists that no one shaU caU in question the law fulness of her conquests : Mr. Bright reproaches her with having unjustly taken possession of Gibraltar, and of unjustly keeping it, and counsels her to restore it without delay to Spain. England, in the civil war which desolates the New World, sympathises in general with the Southerners : Mr. Bright displays a passionate earnestness in pleading the cause of the Northerners. England fears the restoration of the Union as likely to revive, more vigorous than e^er, — a Power whose rapid and prodigious development has alarmed her for a long time past : Mr. Bright prays with his whole heart for the formation of a RepubUc of the United States, powerful enough and pro sperous enough to be adopted by the New World, and to serve as an example to the old one. The antagonism could certainly not be more strongly marked, or dfrected to more numerous or more important questions. And yet, strange to say, — and it imprints on this conflict between the opinion of an individual and the opinion of a people a startUng character of grandeur, — Mr. Bright is V 2 292 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. able to play this part, not only without neutralising himself, but without exhausting or diminishing his influence. He conjures up the storm around himseK, and remains erect through it aU. Public opinion, — the despotism of which it is here so difficult to brave, and the excessive power of which is the malady of free peoples, — public opinion respects him while repeUing him, and by that fact, so far from crushing him, creates for him a position as original as it is briUiant. His ambition might consist in maintaining himseK in it, if his words did not breathe a sort of contagious fanaticism which guarantees his moral disinterestedness and proclaims his sincerify. Never, perhaps, has Mr. Bright's position been more clearly exhibited under the above aspect than at the banquet given to the representatives of Birmingham by the Chamber of Com merce of that city. Whatever could possibly be said in opposition to English sentiments was said by Mr. Bright, and said with the rude frankness of a Quaker, and the vehemence of a tribune. He feared not to affirm that if, at the time of the Crimean war, Lord Clarendon consented to the adoption of the princi ple that " the flag covers the merchandise," and had placed his signature at the foot of the Treaty of' Paris, it was from fear of America, whom a rigorous application of the right of search would infalUbly have armed against England at a critical moment. He blamed the Treafy of Paris for not emancipating the ocean in a thorough manner ; and, reminding his hearers with what pride England loved to caU herseK the " mistress of the seas," he protested against such "insolence." He called upon England to remember that, during the Crimean war, she had not been able to blockade the coasts of Russia, because the merchandise of which the Russians had need reached them through Prussia ; and remarking that, in this age of raifroads, the right of maritime blockade could not be effective against one nation except on the condition of being exercised against all, he declared that it was time to break what had so long been, in the hands of the EngHsh, the trident of old Neptune. With regard to the Trent affair, to which he aUuded with great bitterness, he protested against the adoption of measures ENGLAND SCOLDED BT MR. BRIGHT. 293 which, in his eyes, make civUised peoples descend to the level of savage Indians. He congratulated the Government on the cession of the Ionian Islands only to express his astonishment that they had not afready restored to Spain the rock of Gibraltar, " monu ment," as he openly said, " of a fooHsh war and a dishonour able peace." He keenly attacked the Times and Earl Russell and Mr. Gladstone, for having predicted the success of the Southerners in thefr ensanguined struggle with the Northerners. In short, he omitted nothing that was of a nature to frri- tate the pride, offend the political creeds, or clash with the national prejudices of his country. And he was applauded with enthusiasm. The Tory journals have a strange mode of explaining away this oratorical success, which' astonishes and annoys them. Affecting a tone of levity and indifference, they assert that Mr. Bright serves his country after the fashion of the Helots, whom the Spartans exhibited in a state of drunkenness to their children to disgust them with drinking to excess ; that it is fortunate that he represents democracy under forms suffi ciently repulsive to deprive the EngUsh for ever of any desire to make a compromise with it ; that, in other respects, there are good points in his eloquence ; that it is amusing ; that its savour resembles that of the theories of Bishop Berkeley, who denied the existence of matter, or of Sir Thomas Browne, who maintained that men do weU to render themselves inde pendent of women. So says the Morning Herald ; and, K it is to be credited, those who forgot themselves so far as to Hsten to Mr. Bright are like unto children, who open their eyes wide, and remain for hours together gaping with their Hps apart, when being told the history of GuUiver. For the honour of the English I reject this explanation. In the popularity enjoyed by Mr. Bright, notwithstanding his efforts to lose it, I prefer to behold the virUe homage which a people brought up in the school of Uberfy is alone capable of rendering to a proud and honest spirit. That is triUy a great nation which has so Httle need to be flattered, and it is a fiuae spectacle that of human dignity asserting itseK in the very applause accorded by an assembly of free men to the free man who rebukes them. 294 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. The English, besides, do not faU to understand that on certain points, at least, Mr. Bright is quite right with regard to themselves. I have afready frequently had occasion to inform you — though I have never done so -without profound regret — of the strength of the sympathies which, on this side of the Channel, are manifested in favour of the South in the gigantic quarrel which is devastating the New World. The fact is only too certain : England, that aboUshed slavery in her own colonies, is, generaUy speaking, for the slave-owners. But it is at least consoUng to think that she does not avow it, and that she dare not avow it even to herseK. This sentiment of shame is the most remarkable characteristic of a letter which the Archbishop of Dublin lately wrote in reply to the weU- founded complaints of Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Poor woman ! When England seemed ready almost to carry her in triumph for her romance of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," who would ever have said to her that the day would come when she would have to remind the English with bitterness of what they thought and felt at that time ? That protest against slavery, which was signed at that period by so many noble- minded women, wives and mothers, is it, then, forgotten by them? And is Mrs. Beecher Stowe 'wrong in crying to them: Remember ! But behold the Archbishop of Dublin, who undertakes to answer for the purity of England's sentiments. If the EngHsh are somewhat too strongly biassed in favour of the South, it is, first of all, because the principle represented by the South is that of the "sacred right of revolt;" and, secondly, because the bravadoes of the Northerners have at last roused the indignation of the most patient; and, thfrdly, because the North, instead of taking up arms for the abolition of slavery, only took up arms, according to its own confession, for the purpose of restoring the Union. Such are the explanations given by the Archbishop of Dublin. There are others which he carefuUy avoids giving, and which I pass over, seeing that they happen to have been sufficiently developed in some of my preceding letters. The Archbishop of Dublin, as you see, on this occasion throws over England the pious cloak with which the sons of Noah covered the nakedness of their father, when tipsy and asleep. He asks the world to believe that it is precisely ENGLAND SCOLDED BT MR. BRIGHT. 295 through her hatred of slavery that England accords her moral support to the owners of slaves ! A strange thesis, and one that beyond this isle has no chance of being accepted ! It is very true that the Washington Government made a mistake at the commencement of the war in inscribing on its flag only the word Union ; and it is very frue that even now it seems to regard as an expedient what is a principle, by posi tively maintaining slavery in the faithful States, and by declaring its aboUtion only in the rebel States. Yes, that is tmhappUy true. But is. that a reason for so furiously desiring victory for the South ? What ! Because the North has not struck hard enough blows at slavery, should it be wished that slavery may remain in - possession of the field of battle ? "What ! Because the North has not embraced with sufficient resolution and zeal the cause of humanity and justice, should it be wished that that holy cause may be finaUy trampled tmder foot ? Who does not see that the necessary result of the sfruggle, if the North prove successful, is the aboUtion of slavery ; whereas, if the South friumph, this conflict must necessarUy be followed not only by the maintenance of slavery, but by its extension — ay, by its consecration, K the triumph of the South is to be greeted -with the applause of Europe ? There is the point to be decided. The question is not whether the North has done aU that it could or ought to have done against slavery. The real question is. What will become of a part of the human race should the planters succeed, by help of eannon-baUs and sword-thrusts, in preserving thefr herds of men ? Let the partisans of the South answer this question, if they can ; if they cannot, let them be sUent. 286 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. LETTER CXVIIL the system or publicity applied to acts op benepicence. January 19th, 1863. One thing has greatly struck the English. It is the inadequacy of the subscriptions which have been caUed forth in France by the distress of the artisans of Rouen. What, in fact, is a sum of 430,000 francs, the actual amount of the subscriptions, for rescuing from famine 260,000 working-men, hurled by the crisis into the abyss of exfreme destitution ? To use the expression of Mr. Charles DoUfus, "Is it enough to give a drop of water to extinguish a vast conflagration ? " In England, how great is the difference ! Scarcely had the tocsin of alarm rung out in favour of the famishing people of Lancashfre, than voluntary donations poured in from aU parts. Thfrteen milUons five hundred thousand francs was the pro duct, almost in the twinkUng of an eye, of the first appeals made, in England, to the spfrit of charity. Lord Derby alone subscribed the enormous sum 'of 25Q,000 francs. What an example ! What a lesson ! What a reproach ! And note that the results here indicated are several days old. Since then, EngHsh generosity has found means to con siderably augment its budget of expenditure, and the EngHsh remark, with a smile of disdain upon their lips, that the total of the sums subscribed in France for the artisans of the Seine . Inferieure scarcely equals what the artisans of Lancashfre daily receive from pubHc beneficence, or what the Americans collected within twenty-four hours when aid was wanted to heal the cruel wound opened in the flanks of the Union by the civil war. Can it be that, in the presence of human woe, the heart of France remains without a pulsation ? Shall we condemn as insensible to the sufferings the spectacle of which is before its eyes, and the plot of which is unfolded within its own bosom, a coimtry that has given birth to so many Ulusfrious phUan- PUBLICITT APPLIED TO BENEFICENCE. 297 thropists, from those who have represented Christian charify to those who have drawn down blessings upon philosophy ; from the founder of foundUng hospitals to the avenger of Galas ; from Saint Vincent de Paul to Voltaire ? This is not the conclusion, thank Heaven ! which the Eng Ush draw from a comparison which is only too weU calculated to flatter their pride ; but, as they are justly entitled to do, they avaU themselves of it as furnishing a pretext for vaunt ing the superiority of thefr own institutions. In the first place, it could not escape them that one of the causes of the apathy of their neighbours across the Channel in combating the crisis was to be found in the obstacles opposed in France to every sort of useful publicity. In fact, what was the case? WhUe the distress of Lancashire gave occasion, in the English press, to all sorts of plaintive outcries ; whUe reUef committees were being formed here wherever they were needed; while here, letters upon letters were being 'written to the papers recounting, in reference to the crisis and its effects, either a startling fact worthy of publicity, or sug gesting a remedy, on the other side of the Channel night and silence continued to reign. And certainly the French Govemment is not to be thanked that the world did not beUeve the artisans of the Seine Inferieure to be as happy as the shepherds of Vfrgil's Eclogues, whUe hunger was working the most cruel ravagjes among them, and thousands of poor mothers looked with anguish upon the pale cheeks of their children. It needed that the evil should attain to fearful proportions before one journal, then two, then three, ventured to speak of it. You may imagine how that is remarked upon in England, where individual feeling has so much power and obtains so much respect ! Seeing how little is left for individual itdtia- tive in France, the English have weU-nigh come to look upon it as a country peopled by children. I am certainly not one of those who shudder on hearing pronounced the word State, and who, mistaking the past for the future, mingling aU principles, confounding aU systems, imagine that the State exists only on the condition of bearing a proper name, of calling itseK Richelieu, or being a Louis XIV. I know that in a weU-constituted democracy, the State 298 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. is the Sociefy itseK, acting in that capacity by responsible and removable representatives. Now, that a society is able without despotism to take steps to remedy or aUeviate the evils from which some of its members are suffering, and that it has the right, when represented in a meeting of its depu ties, to ameliorate the condition of labour, as it has that of ameliorating the condition of prisons, I am not the one to deny. It might as weU be said that a sick man acts tyranni cally towards himself when he takes measures to work out his own cure. But wide is the difference between the system of absolute tutelage which exists in France, and that where the State means everybody interesting themselves in the affairs of everybody. "Wherever the indi'vidual is nothing, the nation, which is after aU composed of indi'viduals, soon ceases to be anything. It is, therefore, the opinion of aU thinking men here, that if centralisation in France becomes more absorbing, or even does not become less so than at present, the French social system wiU not be long before it descends from paralysis to death. Children may, without their growth being thereby checked, allow themselves to be conducted in leading-strings ; but it is not so with peoples. Woe to the nations who understand not that; or who, having once understood it, come to forget it ! LETTER CXIX THE EIGHT OP PEOPEETY IN ENGLAND. January 25th, 1868. A STEANGE thing has lately happened here. In the heart of a populous quarter, fuU of movement, fuU of life, in Stamford Street, close to Blackfriars Road, there are two rows of houses which, for many long years past, have had no other inmates than an old maid and mystery. THE RIGHT OF PROPERTT IN ENGLAND. 299 They are large, roomy, and weU built; but at the first glance one sees that the hand of time has pressed hea'vUy upon them, without any one paying attention to it. The waUs are cracked, the doors close badly, the window-frames seem only to be there to attest the absence of window-panes. It is stated, but that has only lately been discovered, that inside aU is desolation. Rickefy tables, curtains tattered and tom, mirrors broken; furniture buried beneath a mountain of dust, — such is the aspect presented by these gloomy apartments. Some thirty years ago they were occupied by famUies. that thought a good deal about comfort. But it came to pass, so runs the legend, that one fine day the proprietor disappeared. Why ? How ? That is a secret which nobody has yet pene- frated. AU that is known is, that the proprietor in question went off to some country whence he was never seen to return, perhaps to those sombre regions mentioned by Hamlet that keep for ever the traveUers who 'visit them. Be that as it- may, years glided away, and two ladies, giving themselves out as sisters of the defunct, came forward and put in a claim which no one was prepared to dispute. They accordingly took possession of the unowned houses, instaUed themselves in one of them, made a soUtude of the others, and there was nothing more to be said about it. Have you read the fine romance of " Jane Eyre " ? If so, do you recoUect that terrible red chaniber in which the implacable Mrs. Read one evening locked up her poor little niece ; that chamber so vast, so cold, so sepulchral, in which Mr. Read had died, and which was never entered by any one except his widow, who, at certain epochs, went into it to examine the contents of a mys terious drawer ? WeU ! the houses in Stamford Street con tained nothing else but rooms of that description after the arrival of the two sisters, and the death of one of them made no change in that state of things. Every night the survivor setting out from number 22, the house which she occupied, went to make her rounds through numbers 1, 2, 3, 5, 19, 20, and 23, visited every hole and corner, carefuUy locked every door after having opened it, and never let the keys out of her pocket. What was going on there ? What silent drama was being enacted in that desolate interior ? Those houses, so long empty and abandoned to such continuous decay, which is the slow death of inanimate objects, were they visited, during 300 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. the night by a ghost? On this subject the imaginations of the people in that quarter indulged in aU sorts of dark conjectures. On the other hand, why should so many houses stand empty, when so many unfortunate beings are in want of a roof? Popular logic and popular imagination forming an alliance, it happened in the end that the quarter became greatly agitated. Accordingly, on Monday last, as Miss Cordelia Angelica Read — such is the name of the heroine of this history, a heroine who at the present day is about the age of one of Macbeth's witches — as Miss Cordelia A^geUca Read, I say, was on her way to No. I, she was greatly astonished to behold pressing against the door a considerable gathering of men of rude aspect, rough voices, and menacing gestures. At the same moment, a genuine Cyclops, holding in one hand an enormous hammer, and in the other a heavy bar of iron, was about to force an entrance. By his side, with an animated countenance and flashing eye, stood a beldame, who evidently commanded the expedition, and not less evidently was mistress of the sympathies of the growling mob crowding around her. Although double-locked, the door, at which the Cyclops struck blow upon blow, was not long in giving way ; and with the force of a torrent no longer checked by dams the multitude rushed in, fiUing the air with -wild cries. The lady, however, to whom the house belonged, had also contrived to enter ; but she had hardly asserted her rights when, turning towards her with an imperious air, the female general of the invading army exclaimed, " Show your title- deeds ! " It is needless to remark that . Miss Cordelia Angelica Read had not her title-deeds in her hand. Besides, had she been in a position to exhibit them, the moment was not favourable for the examination of such documents. Miss CordeUa thought only of making her escape, which she effected as best she could. But towards the evening, at six o'clock, learning that the crowd had dispersed, she returned, accompanied by a lock smith and a carpenter. On the door was pasted a placard, bearing these words : " Whoever pretends to have more right than I to the possession of this house, has only to present himself at Mrs. MacCormick's, No. I, Hatfield Street." With the assistance of the locksmith and the carpenter, the ancient THE RIGHT OP PROPERTT IN ENGLAND. 301 spinster penetrated within the tragic inclosure. An ephemeral triumph, alas ! Ten minutes had barely elapsed before the cry of alarm resounded through the quarter, and a howHng mob came running back. A furious assault was made for the second time upon the iU-omened house ; a second time the door was broken in; a second time had Miss Angelica Cordelia Read to take to flight ; and this time by the roof, so urgent was the case ! There was no reason why, having once tasted of victory, the populace should show any moderation. On the morrow, three other houses, conden>ued for the same motives, were invaded in like manner. WeU ; what say you to aU this ? Could you ever have dreamed that such things could come to pass in London in our days ? Has not this narrative a strong flavour of the Middle Ages ? But do not imagine that this is an absolutely isolated fact. While in Stamford Sfreet the right of property was being freated in the cavaUer fashion I have described, in the disfrict of Belgravia a certain Miss Robinson was valiantly placing herseK at the head of some thirty vigorous feUows, marching sfraight upon a house which she pretended belonged to her, laying siege to the place in the absence of the person by whom it was occupied, driving out the defenders (in other words, the servants), and triumphantly installing herself therein. You wiU ask, Where was the law aU this time, what it was doing, and if the police were in bed ? All that I can say in reply to that question is, first of all, that the police always arrive too late ; and, secondly, that the law, when called upon to adjudicate, did not conceal the fact that it was in a state of great embarrassment. In the former of these two cases it was after considerable hesitation and with a feeling of doubt as to the extent of his powers, that the magisteate committed for trial the adventurous Mrs. MacCormick. In the second case, the magistrate was unable to come to any decision, and the poUce were obliged to take upon themselves to cut the Gordian knot, by declaring themselves at aU risks against the pretensions of the energetic Miss Robinson.' What is the conclusion to be drawn from this ? Is it that every one is here permitted to take the law into his O'wn hands, and are we to proclaim as an imposture the reputation England enjoys upon the Continent of knowing better than 302 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. any other nation in the world how to reconcile respect for the law with the sentiment of Hberty ? Certainly not. That the law reigns in England with sovereign power is indisputable, nor does anything equal the majesty of the law, when once known. It is wonderful to see how a mob in a state of frenzy 'wUl shrink back from a man in a blue frock-coat, armed with a short staff, which he almost never uses, and who usuaUy carries a lantern in the place of a sword. But this man is a policeman ; everybody knows it, and that is enough. When, some few months ago, the Irish rabble, hoisting the colours of the Pope, hastened to throw themselves upon the partisans of Garibaldi in Hyde Park, I recoUect having seen on that occasion a score of poHcemen dash into the midst of the milee, seize by the coUar the most furious, and carry them off with out any one offering even a show of resistance. In France, an army would not have been too much. How then explain the singular facts set forth in this letter ? The explanation is, I fancy, to be found in the incompetency and defectiveness of the English law in what relates to the proving a title to property. It is here a species of legal axiom, that possession is nine points of the law. The great point, therefore, with every one who asserts a claim to real property, is to get on his side the authorify which is attached to possession, in order to be able afterwards to discuss the question of title with greater advantage. Add to this, that there is a tendency on the part of the magistrates to favour those who, in the assertion of thefr right, or what they deem to be their right, do not recoU from the risks of an energetic effort. It is a consequence of the importance which is attached in England to individual initiative ; and it must be acknowledged that, when pushed to such an extreme, the principle has some times inconveniences which, in some measure, recal the ages of barbarism. Happily, the evU carries with it its own cor rective in a country where no barriers are raised against the education of men's minds by means of the press, and where obscurity is nowhere diffused without Liberfy at once hastening to the spot, torch in hand. Yes, in England the law is very often defective, eccenfric, enigmatical, iUogical; but what matter ? What rules England, and it is sufficient for her greatness, is the good sense of the nation, as it has been MEETING IN LONDON IN FAVOUR OF FEDERALS. 303 partly created and is ever developing through the coUective influence of her political institutions. LETTER CXX. A MEETING IN LONDON IN PAVOUE OP THE PEDEEALS. February 3rd, 1863. Good news ! PubHc opinion here, in what relates to America, seems disposed to change its course. Numerous symptoms inspire faith in this belief. If there is a town in England in which the planters have succeeded in enUsting partisans, it is assuredly Liverpool : weU, last week a great meeting at Liverpool honoured with its approval Mr. Lincoln's proclamation of emancipation. This week it was Bristol's turn, of aU the ports in England the one which had the greatest difficulty in giving up the slave frade. And what happened at Bradford during the same time ? At Bradford, a meeting such as that town never before witnessed, either for numbers or animation, applauded with transports of enthusiasm the eloquent anathemas hurled by Mr. Forster against the men who, on the other side of the Atiantic, dare to combat : " For the liberfy of ensla'ving a part of the human race ; " For the liberty of carrying off the wife from the husband, and of tearing the child from the arm.s of its mother ; " For the liberty of torturing and putting to death, law in hand, the father who defends the honour of his daughter ; " For the liberty, on the part of a father with a white skin, of seUing in the market-place the son he has had by a negress ; "For the liberty of transforming into crime education offered to a slave, even when it is merely proposed to teach him to read and write ; "For the liberty, lastly, of extending indefinitely the system whieh makes labour a thing accursed."^ 304 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. But it is, above all, in London that the change to which I am aUuding has manifested itseK by an unmistakable sign. On the evening of last Thursday an immense crowd coUected in the Strand in the neighbourhood of Exeter HaU. And it was not from curiosity, for an honest and. profound emotion was depicted on every countenance. A meeting had been announced ; and it was known that the object of that meeting was to protest solemnly, in the name of the EngHsh, people, against the pretension of the Southern partisans to express the sentiments of England. Blessed be the promoters of this noble manifestation ! They could not render a more signal service to that great cause of liberty which it will be England's eternal honour to have represented during the nineteenth century. It would have been for us a subject of inexpressible bitterness to have heard the savage apostolate of slavery preached without con tradiction in this England, where burns a flame more sacred than that kept up at Rome on the altar of Vesta. With what joy, therefore, did I feel myself penetrated at the aspect of that crowd heaped up on Thursday evening against the doors of Exeter Hall ! Long, long before the hour indicated for the opening of the meeting a large placard announced that to cross the threshold was an impossibiUty : " The haU is fuU." And, in fact, the haU overflowed with people. For those who had been wanting in foresight, no human power could open a way. I am acquainted 'with members of the com mittee by whom the meeting had been prepared, to whom all approach to the platform was thus rendered impossible. A second meeting was obliged to be held in a room on the ground-floor, and a thfrd one was held in Exeter Sfreet, in the open air, by the Hght of the moon, by the Hght of the gas-lamps. Was it the desire of seeing some Ulustrions fribune, was it the desire of hearing some orator of high repute, that had dra-wn together such a considerable gathering ? No. Every one knew that the chair would be taken by Mr. WilUam Evans, a most respectable man certainly, and well deserving of being the President of the Emancipation Sociefy, but who is by no means speciaUy recommended either by the splendour of his social position or by the briUiancy of his talents. MEETING IN LONDON IN FAVOUR OF THE FEDERALS. 305 The Times, which was, as it were, astoufided by the unex pectedly imposing character of tins demonstration it did not at aU anticipate, has not failed to remark that no celebrity shone upon the platform. It is true that, with the exception of Mr. Thomas Hughes, the author of a charming book which is in everybody's hands, no man of mark lent to the manifestation the authority of his eloquence, and regrets were felt for the duly- explained absence of several much esteemed individuals ; for instance, of the venerable General Thomas Perronet Thompson, the patriarch of English reformers, and of the first thinker of this country, Mr. John Stuart Mill. But how did it escape the Times that that very circumstance added to the importance of the fact, of which it strives so sadly to diminish the significance. , No doubt, people did not go there for the sake of any one ' man. They went there for the sake of a principle. Now, it may be guessed what sort of a meeting this was. The first time the name of Mr. Lincoln was pronounced, there arose a thunder of applause which lasted for several minutes ; and the same enthusiasm was excited when Mr. Thomas Hughes described the career of Jefferson Da-vis, who began by persuading the State of Mississippi to repudiate its debt, and finished 'by devoting to the Angel of Exter mination every slave guilty of longing for liberty. Mr. Thomas Hughes was proceeding to remind his hearers that the promoter of the odious law relative to fugitive slaves was precisely the identical Mr. Mason over whom the protec tion of England was so nearly being wrongly thrown, when a voice exclaimed : " He is here present ! " "What is that to me ? " replied the orator, and he pushed his point amid the redoubled applause of his audience. There is a circumstance worthy of note. The Committee of the Emancipation Society, to whom is due the organisation of the meeting in Exeter HaU, had thought it prudent to decide that the speakers should abstain from identifying the cause of the liberation of the negroes with that of. the Union, and should confine themselves to branding, in the name of England, the institution of slavery, without touching upon the question as to whether it was desirable, or not, that the Republic of the United States should remain cut in two. The motive which dictated this decision may be imagined. The Committee feared to attack the partisans of the South on a ground where 30S LETTERS ON ENGLAND. they had a chance of being supported by national selfishness. Aware that many among them, though detesting the institution of slavery, were nevertheless opposed to the North because its defeat promised to deliver England from an inconvenient rivalry, the Committee dreaded to rouse against itseK too many passions at the same time. But what happened ? Why this — the movement stirred up by the apostles of negro eman cipation carried them far beyond the point at which they judged it necessary to stop, not from conviction, but from expediency. The horse ran away with its rider. And that became evident from the very commencement, Mr. WiUiam Evans ha-^ing been, as it were, forced by the acclamations which greeted the word Union, inadvertently uttered, to mix together what he had intended to keep distinct, and to finish his speech very differently from what he had purposed at its commencement. . It was, therefore, not only the emancipation of the blacks which was acclaimed in Exeter HaU, it was also the triumph of the North, the restoration of the Union, the resurrection of a glorious and powerful democracy on the other side of the Atlantic. This very circumstance imparted to the demonstration I have the pleasure to describe a singular character of grandeur. Owing to that sort of close relationship which exists be tween aU honest and noble sentiments, the meeting in Exeter Hall could not restrain itseK from striking with the saine reprobation both what is odious in the ownership of man by man, and what is degrading in national jealousies. The victory of the good over the bad principle has thus been, on this occasion, as signal and complete as could be desfred by those who worship justice and sincerely love liberty. Not that the results of this victory must be considered as passing beyond the limits of a sphere stiU narrowly circum scribed. The outside public has spoken ; but society and the clubs, whose voice here constitutes more than one-half of the noise made by opi-^ion, have remained silent. The aristocracy is not prepared to divorce the sentiments which endear to it the cause of the Confederates. The English press, which, with the exception of a smaU number of generous papers, such as the Daily News, the Morning Star, and the Spectator, has pronounced against the North, wUl not show itseK so easy MEETING IN LONDON IN FAVOUR OF THE FEDERALS. 307 of conversion ; and the Times would gladly exclaim, as did formerly Sieyes : Nous sommes aujourd'hui ce que nous etions hier. (We are to-day what we were yesterday.) But the movement which is being produced among the popular classes, and in the ranks of that portion of the middle-class which is next to the people, does not the less deserve to be taken into serious consideration. And it is no mediocre glory for the working-men of England that, with so much force and unani mity, they have declared in favour of the North, on seeing it struggUng with the demon of slavery — they who them selves suffer so crueUy from a crisis for which it has been attempted to make them beHeve that the North alone was responsible. There is in this a movement of opinion which nobody, a month ago, would have thought of predicting. It remains for me to explain the causes, the very curious causes, which, as I conceive, have brought it about. That wiU be the subject of my next letter. LETTER CXXI. THE SAME SUBJECT. February Zrd, 1863. At last, people in this country seem to have begun to understand that the sympathies of England could not, without dishonouring her, appear to lean towards the slave- holding States of America. On Thursday, the 29th January, a large meeting in favour of the emancipation of the blacks was held in London, at Exeter Hall ; and never, perhaps, was a mauKestation more characteristic or more imposing. Long before the hour fixed for the opening of the meeting, the haU was impetuously invaded by a crowd trembling with excite ment. Such was the affluence of spectators, that a second meeting was obUged to be held in another part of the same building, while a third had to be improvised in the open air, in the nearest street. Mr. WUliam Evans, President of the x2 SOS LETTERS ON ENGL.4ND. Emancipation Society, occupied the chair ; and that alone told pretty clearly in what direction the torrent was going to flow. Brief but energetic were aU the speeches delivered. Why should the orators have developed their thought ? It was divined. There are causes which do not need long pleadings, and they are the best. The work of the understanding is rendered very easy where the heart, under a sovereign impulse, precipitates the concljision. Every word that feU from the lips of the speakers penetrated to the very soul of those who were present, and awakened sonorous echoes. Noble tran sports ! Puissant transports ! If, as is stated, Mr. Mason, the representative of the planters, was among the audience, a pale hue must more than once have passed over his face, especially when Mr. Hughes exclaimed : " And that Mr. Mason, who goes about from drawing-room to drawing-room, pleading _the cause of the South, what manner of man is he ? He is the man who proposed, in America, the law against fugitive slaves ! " If I tell you that the name of President Lincoln was never pronounced that evening in that place without caUing forth hearty acclamations, it will at once give you an idea of the spirit with which the meeting was animated. This spirit was formally enunciated in the foUowing Resolution, which is significant : " The revolt of the Southern States of America against the Federal Government having originated in the fixed determination of the Southerners not only to maintain slavery, but to extend it, and having resulted in the estabUsh ment of a confederation based on the non-recognition of the rights of humanity in the person of the negro, this meeting declares that it repels with indignation the supposition that the sympathies of England are with an act of rebellion in which every principle of political justice is violated, and with institutions which, on the one hand, offend the moral sense of the civilised world, and, on the other, outi-age reli gion, whose sanction is invoked in their favour." We know nothing more sadly curious than the history ofthe moral movement produced in England by the great quarrel of which America is at this moment the ensanguined theatre. Who does not remember with what generous vehemence jjublic opinion throughout Great Britain pronounced against the maintenance of slavery in the years which followed MEETING IN LONDON IN FAVOUR OF THE FEDERALS. 309 the adoption of the Reform Bill ? Long before, the ,abomi- nable slave trade, so eloquently denounced and branded by Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson, George Harrison, William Allen, Richard PhiUips, and, stiU later, by Henry Brougham, had been abolished. So far back as 1807 a BUl, presented by Lord Howick, afterwards Earl Grey, had forbidden, under the penalty of a fine, all traffic in human flesh; in 1811 this penalty, on the motion of Brougham, was changed to fourteen years of transportation ; and in 1824 the laws relating to the slave trade placed it on the same footing with piracy. There are no finer pages in the history of England than those which represent her at the time of the Peace of 1814, and at that of 1 815, and again at the Congress of Aix-la-ChapeUe, taking in hand before Europe the cause of the unhappy beings torn from Africa to be deUvered over, on the other side of the Atlantic, to the whip of the overseer. The success of those efforts of a great people to sustain a great principle wiU never be effaced from the memory of man. The traffic in slaves was erased from the code of nations, and in that respect, at least, human conscience was avenged. But it was not enough to dry up the most impure source of slavery. Slavery itseK remained to be destroyed ; and this is what pubHc opinion in England never ceased to proclaim during the years 1801, 1802, and 1803, with a vivacity, with a deep unanimity which cannot be recaUed to mind without an emotion — I was going to say, without a feeUng of respect. At that period, whenever any one spoke aloud of slavery, there passed, as it were, from one end of England to the other, a thrill of indignation. Day by day the press demanded justice for that portion of the human race which was being- trampled .under foot. The table of the House of Commons groaned beneath the load of petitions. What a biU was that of 1834, which abolished slavery in all English colonies, while stipulating for the dispossessed proprietors an in demnity of twenty miUions sterHng ! Even at the present day the squadron employed in preventing the recruitment of slavery does not cost England less than one miUion sterling per annum. What she has had to pay, under different titles, for the emancipation of the blacks may be estimated at the enormous sum of fifty mUlions sterling. It was natural that, after so many sacrifices, England 310 LETTERS ON ENGLAND. should applaud^hatever appeared to her as Hkely to bring about the complete realization of the object she was seeking to attain. And in fact, when in 1850, Mrs. Harriet Elizabeth Beecher Stowe published her romance of Uiicle Tom's C