The Press. — London, England, 1858-03-06 00:00:00

a resume the benefits and advantages of that commercial in tercourse few which alone it can be of the slightest ad:an tsge to us to maintain any communication whatever with each a country. The idea of territorial aggression, the ides of acquisition of power, the idea of doing more than obtaining adequate security for carrying on freely peaceful commerce will, I trust, never enter the head of any Minis ter who conducts the affairs of this empire. (Cheers.) I now approach a most important portion of the state ment which I have to submit to your lordships, but with one exception I may deal with it in very general terms. I trust, my lords, that in conducting the foreign policy of this country our aim will be to maintain friendly relations with all powers, great and small, with which we are brought into contact. I trust we shall main tain those relations without adopting either a tone of liatiglity intimidation or a tone of servile submission J wards any Government. I hope that we shall carry on intercourae frankly and unreservedly with foreign powers; that we shall carefully abstain from any interference what ever with the purely domestic affairs of any of them ; and that if, in any instance, a cause of difference should arise, we shall in public, as we should in private life, seek the first opportunity of arranging such differences by means of frank and unreserved but amicable communications. My lords, if there should still remain, from that conflict in which several important powers were engaged some years ince, any animosity between ourselves and that great empire with which we were at war, I trust such a feeling may rapidly and entirely subaide, and that our relations ith that power may speedily resume—if, indeed, they we not already resumed—the friendship and cordiality which they were formerly marked. I hope, however, shall not be regarded as unduly depreciating the value of our alliance with any country if I here express my firm conviction that if there be one country with which, more than another, it is necessary for our mutual welfare and fur the advantage of the world that we should maintain a permanent pod understanding, that country is our nearest and must powerful neighbour—the great empire of France. Loud cheers.) The geographical position of the two countries, the facility and constancy of intercourse between their popula- tions, their force respectively at sea and on land, render their harmonious union almost a pledge and guarantee for the peace of the world, while those circumstances also render quarrel or coolness between the two powers a matter of danger which may involve alarming conse quences to the world at large. My lords, for France this country can have but one desire,--that, remaining upon friendly terms with us, she should have within herself all the means of contentment, of wealth, and of prosperity. There is no country in the world blessed with greater natural advantages, none more fortunate in position and climate; and if there be one thing which is alone suffi cient to rnalte her and to keep her great, powerful, mi Oty, and happy, it is the absence within her own bosom of political convulsions. As far as foreign countries are con• corned, the peculiar form of government which best suits any people is, if not a matter of indifference to us, at all events one into which we have no cause or right to inquire. Be ' a limited monarchy, be it a republic, be it an empire, that government is best for France which best suits the disposition, the habits, and the affections of the people; but, whatever be the government, it is of vast importance France, and it is hardly of secondary importance to ,urope, that that government should not be liable to per petual change, but should enjoy a condition of perma nence and stability. My lords, towards the maintenance 7 such permanence and stability I believe the life of that remarkable man who, elected by the voice of the French people, now presides over the destinies of that country is great and paramount importance. I will not go so far 4to say that civil commotion anti disturbance would in evitably follow upon any fatal attempt upon the life of his imperial Majesty. Rut this I do say, that his absence from the helm of the State wonld at this time seriously endanger the new-horn tranquillity which that country witv enjoys, and which for the last sit years it has enjoyed under his Government. Therefore, my loris, it was with . feeling as if all mankind had escaped a great danger— as if Europe was freed from an imminent peril by a special aterposition of Providence—that the news was recei►ed of the late escape of his Imperial Majesty from a foul and aurderous design. (Hear, hear.) I need not recall to your lordships the circumstances under which that das tardly attempt took place. Those circumstances must have made too strong an impression on your minds to require any such recital. Suffice it, my lords, to say that there was not one single attribute of aggravation by which parallel atrocity could be attended that was not present in the details of this horrible crime. (Hear, hear.) It Was not only that by the basest means a highly int- resume the b tercourse fix tage to us to each a count ides of acqui obtaining ads commerce wi ter who cond I now app ment which with one eze terms. I ti foreign polic friendly relal which we are tain those haughty inti towards any intercourse f that we shall ever with the that if, in any shall in pub opportunity frank and ur lords, if thei which severe since, any a empire with may rapidly t with that po have not alrel by which the I shall not be our alliance v conviction th, than another, for the advun permanent gk and must pov (Loud cheers The geogr facility and e tions, their ft, their harmor for the peace render quart matter of d quences to th country can friendly term, the means of There is no natural advar in climate; a cient to make and happy, it political cons cerned, the p 4 people is, if one into whit it a limited n that govern= dispoaition, t but, whateve, to France, ar Europe, that peinal char]; nence and au of such perm remarkable r people, now of great and as to say that evitably fullo Imperial M, from the hell endanger th enjoys, under hie (1( ai as if Europe interposition of the late e murderous d your lordshi tardly atten have made t require any there was Tv a parallel at: in the detail Was not or THE PRE,SS, MARCH 6, 1858. portant life was aimed at, but if you look at the time and the place in which the attempt was made—when his hfajesty was proceeding to the opera-house and had arrived at the door of the theatre in one of the most crowded streets of Paris, surrounded by loyal subjects waiting to receive their Emperor with acclamations and enthusiasm,—above all, when at his side was the Imperial partner of his throne—a women, a wife, and an Em• press—exposed to all the dangers which threatened her august consort, you will see, my lords, that no circumstance of aggravation was wanting to deepen the guilt of those who, under such circumstances, committed the atrocious act of throwing under the carriage of his Imperial Majesty missiles of the most formidable and deadly character. (Hear, hear.) The hand of Providence was visible in watching over the destinies of France, but much innocent blood was shed, much calamity was caused to the people of Paris, much alarm was excited throughout the entire country. The effect, my lords, of such an attempt and its happy failure was that which might naturally have been expected upon the minds of an enthusiastic and sensitive people. The peal which the Emperor shd Empress had escaped doubled and trebled the enthusiastic feeling of indignant loyalty which burst forth upon the instant. From every quarter were poured in addresses of congratu lation and of thankfulness that lives so valuable to France and to Europe had been saved. Nor was it by France alone, but by the British residents in France, and by the inhabitants of various parts of this kingdom, that these feelings of thankfulness and congratulation were testified. But, unfortunately, my lords, it transpired that ameng the small band of miscreants by whom this outrage was perpetrated were some at least who, having been compelled to flee from their own country, had for a certain period of time been enjoying and abusing the hospitality of Eng land. (Hear, hear.) Supposing the circumstances had been reversed—supposing that her Majesty, going among her subjects with that frank confidence which characterises her, knowing as she does that in the loyalty and affection of her people she has her best and securest guard, and surrounded by a loyal and devoted multitude, had been exposed to an attack upon her Royal person while pro ceeding to the opera•house in London—what, I ask your lordships to consider, would have been the feelings of the people of this country, what would have been the indigna tion of the people of this metropolis ? And if it had come to their knowledge, as it undoubtedly would in such a case, that that dastardly attempt was not the work of any native-born subject of her Majesty, bat the preconcerted design of a band of assassins who had abused the hospi tality they received in a neighbouring country, I put it to your lordships whether you think that their censures and their indignation would have beta very cautions or very discriminating? (Hear, hear.) I cannot therefore won der, however deeply I may deplore, that upon the news spreading through France that this atrocious deed was the act of refugees coming straight from England, with the enthusiastic expressions of loyalty amt oongratulation at the safety of the Emperor there should have been mingled, more especially from the army of France, some expres sions which, seeing how unworthy they were as applied to England, must naturally have wounded the feelings of the people of this country. Under the circumstances, my lords, I think that such expressions ought not to have been too nicely scanned, even if his Imperial Majesty, with that frankness and candour which he has always dis played in his relations with England, had not fairly avowed the regret he felt that 'such language, accompanying the manifestations of loyalty to himself, had been suffered to appear in the public papers, and thereby to create a just resentment in the people of this country. (Hear, hear.) But, my lords, I should be sorry, indeed, to think that those expressions, whatever they may have been, truly represented the calm and deliberate feeling entertained towards England by the great and noble army of France. will not believe it, my lords, for true valour never in dulges in bombast—(Hear)—and I should be surprised to find that those who were the authors of these intempe rate addresses were in reality the most distinguished among those glorious soldiers of France who, in many a hard-won battle on the fields of the Crimea, fought and bled in honourable rivalry with their British allies, and have learnt how to appreciate the loyalty and fidelity of their co-operation. (Cheers.) It is now more than 100 years since we have had in England any of those civil disturbances which compelled many of the citizens of this country to take refuge in foreign lands. We cannot, therefore, judge (but we ought to make allowance for French feeling) how annoying and irritating it must be, and would be to ourselves, if in a neighbouring town on the Continent we were conscious that many disaffected persons were concentrated together 221 entertaining the molt hostile sentiments towards the Government of this country, and bent upon overthrowing it by the most treasonable designs. My lords, although the oppression must be most grievous and intolerable which can justify any man or sot of men in exposing their own country to the horrors of civil war, yet when that dreadful state of affairs arrives—when the sword is drawn in civil strife in defence of opposing principles, whatever may be our own predilections or our own opinions, we cannot but regard with respect and sympathy those to whom fortune has been unfavourable, on whatever side they may have straggled. Whether they be those who, from an unwavering sentiment of loyalty, stood to the last by an unpopular and ill-fated Sovereign, or those who, from a desire to rescue their country from tyranny, have risen in unsuccessful revolt, if they have fairly and in the open field maintained their principles by the sword, at the risk of their fortunes and their lives, public sympathy will always follow them in their misfortunes and in their exile. (Hear, hear.) Contemporary history may not be as indulgent; but posterity will do justice to those who, from whatever cause, have suffered in defence of doctrines which they honestly believed to be sound and true. If we bok back to the period of our own civil wars, when men here contended earnestly and vehemently for principles truly and deeply implanted in their minds, and sternly upheld them in the field of battle—if we revert to those distant times and view them by the light of history, we can even now sympathise with the gallant and devoted loyalty, the cheerful resignation exhibited by the fallen Cavaliers ; we can sympathise with the stern love of liberty, the independence of principle, which in later times led the Puritans to prefer poverty and exile to the violation of their conscientious convictions. My lords, there is no man, however warm an ad mirer he may be of our great deliverer William 111., but looks with sympathy upon the faithful attachment to a fallen monarch of the Irish followers of James 11. And coming down to a later, and happily the last, period to which I can refer in our own history for an illustration, even at this day, devoted as this country is to the house which now so auspiciously reigns over us, no man can look back without a feeling of sympathy and admiration upon the heroic and romantic sacrifices made by the supporters of the unhappy Stuarts. (Hear, hear.) But, my lords, if we have this sympathy foe men whose misfortunes have followed their open and manly defence of their principles by the sword, no such sympathy is due, and none is extended either by contemporary history or by impartial posterity, to those who, in order to attain their political ends, resort to the base and vile means which characterise the designs of the assassin. (Hear, hear.) But if there is one degree of infamy beyond that which attends the man who wields the assassin's knife, that infamy be- longs to him who, lacking the only palliation of the assassin's guilt, the bold sacrifice of his own life,—skulks in safety at a distance, and, plotting and devising crimes and assassinations, sends forth his wretched tools to per petrate and suffer for deeds which he has the heart to conceive, but not the boldness to execute. (Hear, hear.) And these men call themselves the friends of liberty! Why, my lords, these men are the bitterest and most de termined foes of liberty. These are they who cause every right-thinking mind to shrink from connection with the purest and holiest cause, because they pollute it by the vile machinery they employ—these are they who in their own country rivet the chains of slavery and oppression— these are they who drive from their cause every upright and every honourable mind—who compel the treachery of the assassin to be met by the machination of the secret spy—who by their dark designs make despotic Soverei,Tris have recourse to measures more despotic still, and by their conduct d 3 the utmost to destroy that liberty of which they presume to call themselves the constituted cham pions. (Cheers.) Are, then —it may be asked by France— are men who so conduct themselves—are men who thus abuse the hospitality and asylum which England affords them—are these men,whotn the law of England protects and shelters, to commit crime among us with impunity? No, my lords, they are not. There's not a crime of which these persons can be guilty, there's nut an approach to such a crime, for which the law of England does not pro vide. Not only assassination, not only conspiracy to assas sinate, but even an incitement to assassinate, whether by publication or by word of month, is an offence recognised by the law of England when the guilt of the accused person shall be proved. But it is naturally said, "If these things are done—if these crimes are concocted in England and in London, how is it that the Government of England has not the power to prevent their repetition ?" My answer is perfectly simple; but let me say that I can un derstand that persons aocastomed to a judicial procedure, and therefore believing ■ different system of ig that Government