The Press. — London, England, 1858-11-27 00:00:00

NEWIENIIM 1166 THE WEEK. THERE is a dead pause in the world of party and politics. Join BRIGHT'S blundering and violent harangues scarcely disturbed it. The tercen tenary of the Reformation and the Charge of the Bishop of Lox oos nearly broke the silence, as do a few big drops before the thunderstorm. The Times forgets its classic stories, and grumbles commonplace, not from want of power, but from poverty and paucity of texts. The Record is unable to discover in the mist or to hear in the silence of a single dancing rector or pirouetting curate, and each and all grasp recklessly at reports of cases whose gross indecency sullies their pages and ought to forbid their publicity. St. Barnabas is gone to roost, and Mr. IVEsrEttros, the unquiet churchwarden, for once sleeps sweetly. Even Cardinal WisEmAN's snore is inaudible to Mr. BOWER. Is it a breath of relief that the tired world draws after Crimean and Indian excitement ? Or is it the stillness of what its sailors call breeding weather at sea, which pre cedes a hurricane that strains every timber of the ship, and rouses the sleeping ocean from its quiet bed a thousand fathoms down ? Easterly winds, an easy Money Market, and the Funds, like the weathercock, almost stationary, are proofs that either John Bull or the country has gone to sleep. Is it the reaction of an effort to introduce Reform, increased by finding it too difficult to discover whether it be the machine or the men that work it that most needs reform? Perhaps it is the tiptoe expectation of a Conservative Reform Bill, which multitudes will, of course, pronounce insipid, because there may be in it no spice of revolution in Church or State to give it piquancy and flavour. Men hold their breath in moments of intense expectancy. Perhaps this Pythagorean silence is the result of the withdrawal from the outer world of PALMERSTON and RUSSELL and BRIGHT, in order to concoct a Bill, each in sequestered silence, that will outbid and outrun in revolutionary speed and fervour any constitutional attempt of her Majesty's Govern ment to mend the faults and to improve the character of that marvel of finality, the Reform Bill of 1832. One lesson only we could wish all men to learn during this interval of quiet. It is this—True reform is an inner life before it takes the varied shapes of outer action. Like charity, it begins, but does not end, at home. What is most deeply needed is not readjustment of political machinery, however useful, but elevation of aim, and integrity of heart, and purity of motive, and diffu sive kindness and Christian patriotism in every class of our country. It is not a political system, however good, that makes a people, but a people that make a system. A wise and great people prosper under any system. A corrupt and unrighteous nation would be wretched even in a millennium. Whoever contributes most by moral influences to correct the prejudices, still the passions, and raise the social and moral temperature of a community, is the Prince of Reformers, and the product of his unostentatious labours is a Reform no State-tinker, however gifted, can create. M. KOSSUTH is before us again—not this time as the earnest exponent of oppressed nationalities, but in the more useful and less ambitious cha racter of a public instructor. On Thursday in last week the ex-Governor of Hungary delivered a very clever and interesting lecture at Edinburgh on "The Characteristic Differences of Nations," and his remarks on the qualities that combine in and distinguish the Anglo-Saxon race front any other are well worthy our attention. To arrive at a fair and impartial estimation of national character, a man must undoubtedly have that sort of education, that intuitive knowledge of men and manners, and that peculiar instinct of mind, which extensive reading and travel combined alone can impart; and it would be impossible to ap preciate the distinctions made by M. KOSSUTH without having thus known and lived amongst the nations whose peculiarities he discusses. The " individuality " of the three nations, German, French, and English, is compared by the lecturer to the three spiritual faculties of man—" Mind, Heart, and Soul ;" and he proceeds thence to enlarge on the idealism and reasoning power peculiar to the German, the sociableness and communica tiveness of the Frenchman, and the force of will and practical activity cha racteristic of the Englishman. The German is, in M. KossuTres opinion, a profound thinker, the Frenchman an agreeable talker, and the English man an energetic "doer." We do not dispute the general accuracy of this classification ; we find in it rather imperfect truth than fundamental error. Now, we deny that the English as a nation are doers only, and not thinkers. We protest against being judged by that continental theory which starts by assuming that, because we accomplish great works and achieve more success in material than ideal matter, we are utterly and entirely devoid of all sentiment, all romance, and all love of poetry : a longing after practical success, and a continual desire of developing our strength of purpose, is perfectly compatible with a mind as thoughtful as a German's, and as artistic as a Frenchman's. Whilst we have no wish to run counter to the happy wish expressed by M. Kosstrrit at the conclusion of his lecture, that " the pretension to exclusive superiority in each nation " should he softened into mutual esteem," we may yet question the pre ceding assertion, that the natural characteristics as described by him are requisite to make that perfect whole" in European society without which "progress would be at an end." For our own part we should imagine an THE PRESS, NOVEMBER 27,1858. amalgamation of national characteristics would improve every nation and we would rather each " took a page from the other' s book," and endeavour as much as possible to blend the thinking with the talking, and carry b ot h into practice. With regard to the German, he i s so constantly leaving this world of sense, and idealizing in the realms o f imag i nat i on, that his sentiment but too often degenerates from romance int o fl ig h ts of fancy at . once fantastic and absurd. Had he but a grain of "the common sense " which M. 'Commit attributes to the Englishman, he would soon perceive his folly, and, like many a poetaster in this practical country, have t o swallow his sentiment and lay aside his visionary philosophy and m i sty metaphysics to join in the pursuits and occupations of an active life. The French, on the other hand, might improve their national character by adding a tinge of the German sensibility and thoughtfulness to their usually careless temperament, whilst their social dispositions would not suffer by a judicious admixture of English reserve. The English and French genius differs, inasmuch as the one individualizes and the other centralizes. But, as M. liossimi points out, this is to he attributed not so much to individual character a s to the peculiar position in which each are placed by the forms and practice of the Government of their respective countries. The weak point of an Englishman's character is his apparent haughtiness and coldness of manner, which often degenerates into egotism, rudeness, and a want of vivacity ; and a lesson from our neighbours pour appremlre a &re vif would not come amiss to many a man who prides himself in the name of Briton. The distinctive feature is that individwiliza. Lion (so to speak) which no foreigner can comprehend. An Englishman speaks of himself and acts for himself, as an individual, with a fixedness of purpose and a determination to succeed, and though utilizing his ideas and discarding for the time all occupation but that of a practical and material nature, he is yet not incapable of those higher flights of the mind which so enthral a German, nor is he the less able to devote himself, and with as much pleasure and assiduity, as a Frenchman, to pursuits of science, litera ture, and art. IVhilst, then, we congratulate ourselves on the general fairness of M. Kossum's remarks, we must be allowed to protest against the fallacious supposition that the English, as a nation, are so entirely ab sorbed in matters of practical utility as to be devoid of the mental capa bilities imputed alone to Germany, or deficient in the social and convivial qualities attributed solely to the inhabitants of La Belle France. There is no political news this week of any great moment, as we pre sume the addresses of Messrs. BouvERIE and LABOCCHERE to their con stitutents will hardly be considered such. Smithfield and Southwark, however, have contributed their quota to the week's amusement. The worthy people who figured on the first-mentioned occasion would do well to consider whether their appearance in public is at all likely to promote the object they have in view. The advocates of manhood suffrage usually give the British artizan credit for a certain amount of intelligence, which the rest of the public are very willing to take upon trust. To believe in him, in fact, is just now rather the fashion tjian otherwise. But if he wishes this profitable delusion to continue, it would be wise of him to hold lii3 tongue. We might continue to think him a swan if his voice didn't betray him. But we are afraid the literal-minded individual who last Monday declined to give Lord ROBERT GROSVENOR his title., because the Bible for bade him, will cause infinite disbelief in the existence of many Alton Lockes among the tailors and shoemakers of the metropolis. On the Surrey side our old friend Sir CHARLES NAPIER has been giving the electors that identical piece of his mind to which they have been so long accustomed. Nothing like fortifying, except fighting, in Sir CHARLES'S opinion, though we remember a certain orator, of whom it was said that he was " lingua melior " sed frigida bello dextera." And we think Sir CHARLES would consult his own dignity best by moderating those martial harangues in which he so much delights. We have also to record political speeches by Mr. Cox, of Finsbury, and Mr. NEWDEGATE. The former gentleman expressed his willingness to accept a Reform Bill from Lord DERBY as soon as from Lord JOHN Bus- SELL, for which gracious admission the Noble Premier is doubtless duly obliged to him. The Hon. Member for Warwickshire dwelt strongly on that glaring inequality in our town and county representation which can not be overlooked any longer, and ably pointed out the manifest inconsis tency between M. DE MONTALEMBERT's praises of English liberty, and his desire to bring her back to Popery, in the repudiation of which that liberty had its origin. A great disturbance has been made this week and last on the sub ject of college fines at Cambridge. One of the colleges there has, it seems, raised the scale of fines for non-attendance at chapel, and " knocking in" late, to a height at which the undergraduates have begun to kick ; and, in consequence, they have invoked the aid of the leading journal to put their oppressors to shame, not scrupling to attri bute the most sordid motives to the body of gentlemen who constitute their college superiors. Now, about the expediency of this particular innovation we say little beyond this, that the fines for late hours ought not to press hardly upon poor men, who, if they pass their evenings regularly in wine parties or social gatherings of any kind, are not ful filling the purpose for which they were sent to the University. How ever, we have no desire to urge this point ; but what we do think that Oxford and Cambridge had better wash their dirty clothes at home. There is a sufficient check upon any undue college charges in the sen sitiveness of paterfamilias; and if these charges are really both cause less and excessive, the diminution of candidates for entry at tha t parti cular college will soon rectify the evil. En the next place, w e "14 express our opinion that the columns of the leading journal might be 77. - ,11 , ..111,1•••• I