The Press. — London, England, 1855-04-21 00:00:00

... r • ' ' er yail ; 9 f 1 • . "/‘/, .C e e / ' ' .' . 1 • t ' .".4. / ( lj ( rts3s 7 r - No. 103.—VoL. 111. LONDON, SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 1655. PRIC ;E SIXPENCE. Ebt Vrtss. body like the Corporation of London to talk of the " dignity of our attitude," but states men know that in the crash of war, influence belongs only to battalions, and that our claim to " sway destinies" is the mere con temptible vapour of fur-gowned citizens, while our forts need garrisons, and we have not a single regiment we can send abroad to meet the countless levies of the enemy. How is it that, in spite of warnings and in spite of experience, the action of the country still lags behind its capacity and the demand of the public ? There can bo but one answer to the question. Our Government is unequal to its duties—but to ascertain why it is un equal we must revert to the principles on which the strength or weakness of national action depends. A nation can be no stronger than the Government which directs its atfivirs. Just as we have seen our army in the East waste and wither under a senseles routine, the vigour of the State has languished under the rule of an Administration essentially corrupt and inefficient. To stifle a clamour or to secure a vote has been deemed of more con sequence than to make provision for the pub lie service ; and the main study of such Ministries as the last and the present has been how to readily convert the most liberal of patriots into the most contented of place men. In despotic Governments the whole re afaximpatabe.State are at the direction of an individual, or of those few individuals who form its administrative power. This is a great advantage, but it is more than counter balanced by the action of a flee Government under a representive system, which can not only wield the whole resources of the State, but can count besides on the voluntary and energetic co operation of the people. But such a Government to be strong must be secure. From the instant that it begins to totter—that it is driven to the desperate ex pedient of endeavouring to sustain itself by intrigues or concessions—its strength is lost, and the nation it represents, however mighty or high principled in itself, becomes in action feeble and uncertain. Gov( rntnent can be formed which from the extent of its connection, or from the confi dence reposed in it can command is majority in the Legislature, intrigue and jobbery in one shape or other take the place of the legitimate influence of party, and au Adminis tration becomes corrupt and mischievous, because it is too weak to be honest and firm. LONDON, SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 1855. THE thoughtful mind of the Emperor of the FRENCH must have been furnished with matter for grave reflection during his short visit to this country. He has seen a people full of ardour, abounding in wealth, untiring in en terprise, making continual progress in material civilisation, yet, by some apparently inexpli cable fate, unable as a nation to concentrate their resources, and to act with vigour. He has seen the richest country of the earth the most defenceless ; and a densely-populated land scarcely able to furnish a guard of honour. for the palace and person of the Sovereign He knows at the same time that our army in the Crimea is not only utterly disproportionate to our rank and reputation as a great Power, but unequal to the work it is called on to per form; and, remembering that in the last great war we had a million of men under arms, with scarcely half our present numbers to draw them from, or wealth to support them, he can come to no other conclusion than that our whole system of government has sunk in energy, and that we are no longer equal to the conduct of a great war. If ha recognised in the absence of a military force our eagerness to send every disposable man to the seat of war, how meanly must be think of our means ? and if he sees in our utterly defenceless state a proof of the confidence we repose in his sincerity, he will hardly think highly of our prudence in trusting so much to fortune and so little to ourselves. Should, from any acci dent, France be deprived of his vigorous rule, what might be our position then ? We deplore the circumstances which must have forced such reflection on his mind. It is mortifying to think that we could not give him a welcome which would have been above the suspicion that it was dictated by interest or fear as much as by respect The hand which is cordially extended is not grasped the less eagerly because its owner is powerful. The most generous natures are not insensible to those considerations which are inevitably pro duced by a consciousness of superiority ; for in the constancy and equality of friendship be tween nations, as between individuals, more security is afforded by strength than by weak. ness. We believe that this evil might be remedied if the Conservative party better understood their own lower. They have a majority in the country, but it requires to be roused and organised. The Conservative principle, ac cording to Sir BULWER Lxrros's eloquent ex pression, is not lifeless, but vital. It means a warm and generous attachment to all that men hold dear, to the influences that soothe, sanctify, and elevate life—to hearth and home —to throne and altar. Our people we are per suaded are attached to their country, and its laws and institutions—to their Protestant faith—to their liberties, and to order, without which no freedom can be secure, and no pro. gress possible. The union we desire is for no abstract purpose, but to maintain, to extend, and to perpetuate these blessings. It is only by connecting them with principles of poli tical action, and by placing them under the guardianship of a great party, that we can hope for their security and development THE IMPERIAL VISIT. THE Emperor of the FRENCH is too sagacious to mistake the character of the reception givtn to him in this country. He will not confound the homage rendered to his success with the just tribute paid to the rectitude of his policy and the straightforwardness of his conduct. It is to take the very vulgarest view of his position and of the sentiment which animates the country to suppose that he is honoured merely as a lucky adventurer. It is not because he has passed from lodgings in King-street to the Tuileries, and that the hand which now firmly grasps the sceptre of France once held a con stable's staff, that he commands our applause ; but it is because be has shown since he ascended the Imperial Throne that he compre hends the noblest use of power; that he has distinctly recognised and proclaimed that to maintain order within a State is to promote public prosperity and private good, and to resist any disturbance of the existing Euro pean system is to practically act on the prin ciple that the ago of conquest is past, and to place the independence and rights of nations under guardianship of those same rules of law and order which protect the members of a community, and which it is the first object of their Government to enforce. The late Government was weak from in ternal division—the present is weak from want of political following. A succession of such Governments would be enough to break down the strength of any nation. Indeed, the very existence of them supposes a vice in the people, or a radical defect in the Constitution. Lord PALMERSTON has lost the administrative vigour he once possessed. Holding the Pre miership on sufferance, he is compelled to lean on the party to whose political ideas on many points he is notoriously opposed As the price of their support he consents to be come their tool for the distribution of office, and, instead of considering the interests of the public service, is compelled to look solely to the necessities of his position. This state of affairs would not have been possible had the Conservative party remained united, or had it been stronger than it is. In free States, it is not from political antagonism, but from political compromise, that danger is to be apprehended. While parties retain their natural limits and characteristics, their strife is beneficial to the commonwealth. It ani mates the people to take an active interest in public questions, and forms the best part of their political education. But when parties are confused, or split into sections, when . no But, setting all such ideas aside, no one acquainted with the poverty of our military establishment—we mean of our effective as compared with our paper establishment—can doubt that our force is below our necessities, and unworthy our position. Our deficiency lowers us in the sight of our allies, and weakens our voice in the councils of Europe. To talk of moral power, in the disputes of rmtions, apart from armed force is mere cant. Wby have se for two years been dangling attendance on Austria. but from the know ledge that she has half a million of bayonets at her disposal? It may be very well for a As a people, we are, perhaps, at all times too prone to regard elevation as virtue. The favored of fortune need not fear, much from social scrutiny. Success is among us the greatest of all facts. But in excuse of this tendency it is to be said that, owing to the long and undisturbed supremacy in this coun try of law, and to the general prevalence of honest enterprise, the paths to any kind of eminence are so hedged and bounded, so guarded by restrictions on whatever can bo hurtful to society, that success can rarely be separated from the qualities which deserve it. Of those sudden terns of fortune which have ~~r.. . Jll6. a— ara. a prool sinceril pruden so littl dent, what it We have fi mortif: a welc suspie fear as is cord eager); most those duced in the tween securi neas. But segue,' establ comp doubt and u lower weake To tal !intim Why 1 atten( ledge at her ~~