The Press.
London, England, 1855-01-13 00:00:00

JANUARY 13,1855

" We all look forward to a revolution," said a gentleman
of great talent one day ; " we all look forward to a revolu-
tion: and when it does break out, the French tragedy will
be but a game of play in comparison to it." I often thought
of his words when I saw the peasantry with their axes stuck
into their girdle, a national custom, and shuddered to
imagine the horrid deeds they will commit with these
weapons when their vengeance shall have been aroused for
the many years of injustice and cruelty to which they have
been subjected.-5. 136.
Russia should have for its flag a Death's head, and the
motto, ReAgurgam.-16. 170.
No wonder that the Russians look forward to a revolu-
tion, for, let the people be ever so patient, there is a mea-
sure of evil whion cannot be borne fur ever.—lb.
The lady endeavoured to console one gen-
tleman who was lamenting the baseness of the
official class. " They will behave more
" nobly." she said, " when more enlightened."
He replied :
" Never, never! until a dreadful revolution has swept
over the land, and destroyed every vestige of the Govern-
ment now existing, and of the corruption throughout every
rank."—lb.
As this idea of a desperate convulsion is so
often expressly indicated throughout the
volume, we may pause for a few minutes to
ascertain as well as we can on what data it is
founded, and what are really the chances of an
overthrow of the existing form of government.
That it has existed firmly for so many ages is
some kind of presumptive evidence that its
foundations are not so insecure as theorists
like this Lady are apt to suppose.
The government of the Czar is ameliorating
the general Condition of the people quite as
fast as they are prepared to support change.
The peasants are jealous of innovation, as may
be gathered from a remarkable anecdote re-
corded here :
It will certainly take many years, ay, centuries, for such
a people to be in a condition to appreciate the blessings of
freedom; and perhaps they are too Asiatic ever properly to

do so.
It is almost dangerous to endeavour to ameliorate their
state. The cousin of a lady with whom I was intimate,
having just returned from abroad, where he has witnessed
the good effects of civilisation, determined to devote his
life and fortune to the enlightenment of his peasantry.
The ignorant priest, however, made them believe that his
design was to destroy their ancient customs and to subvert
the religion of their forefathers. The consequence was that
the slaves formed a conspiracy against him, and shot him
tme evening as he was reading a book in his own sitting-
room.-16. 157.
The extreme jealousy of foreigners felt by
the people is also another obstacle to any
great or sudden relaxation of the strictness of
government. The Lady relates :
Were a revolution to break out, I have heard it said a
thousand times they (foreigners) would be the first to fall
victims to the people's rage, for they are looked on as
heretics and aubverters of the manners and customs of
their forefathers, to which they cling as tenaciously as any
Oriental nation. If the lower class were to rise, as some
fear they will do, a Russian massacre of St. Bartholomew
would inevitably ensue. The English were the most liked
and respected by them before the late events; they are
new the most intensely hated of any. ---lb. 271.
But at present we fail to detect anything
like general disaffection among the Russian
people. Hardly as they may be treated in
particular eases, they bear their sufferings as
an inevitable yoke they have no power to
throw off. We live as our neighbours do,"
said a yemstchick to the Englishwoman, who
inquired concerning his condition. " I have a
" wife and two children; we get plenty of black
" bread and salt, and very often stchie. What
" else could we wish for?" This appears to
be the prevalent disposition, and the Czar is
to them not the tyrant we are accustomed to
consider him, but an all-wise and all-powerful
fattier, who would be sure to redress their
wrongs, if they could convey them to his ear.
Then, what probability is there of any rapid
change in the mind of a people so cut off
from foreign influences ? In what way are
revolutionary principles to spread among
them ? Such principles are assuredly not of
sudden growth. More than one generation
must elapse before the mind of a people can
be indoctrinated with them, and there is little
probability of their ever taking root under a
Government so vigilant that its eye is on
every part of its wide-spreading empire. To
rise against the rule of the Emperor would,
the people are persuaded, be to destroy their
only shield against oppression.
For a like reason the proprietors must
equally wish to preserve the power of the
Government unbroken. They may be dis-
vleased with the concessions made from time

THE PRESS.

to time in favour of their serfs, they may-
view with jealousy and fear a power so much
above them, and which on the whole appears
to be on the increase, but they must be con-
scious that to destroy that power would bring
them face to face with their serfs, and would
almost certainly overwhelm them with swift
destruction. The monarch may be overthrown,
or particular members of the Administration
removed, by a combination among leading
personages, but the system of government
would be no more shaken by such a movement
than is ours by a change of Ministry. Under
existing circumstances, however, uo suoh con-
vulsion appears in the slightest degree pro-
bable. And against any elianges of a revolu
tionary kind we have a right to assume that
the army would oppose a decided resistance.
The commercial class must be socially
powerful in Russia from its numbers and
wealth, but it has no political influence, and,
as far as we can learn, does not desire any.
It is contented with its prosperity, and is yet
very far behind that state when a commercial
community becomes pervaded by liberal ideas
through growing knowledge and intellectual
ambition.
From men of letters—were the press free—
the Russian Government might indeed dread
mischief; but even in that case generations
must elapse before the mass of the people
could be influenced, and as it is, with a most
watchful censorship, it is impossible that
revolutionary tenets can be spread from this
source
That there may be much whispered talk in
salons of " le Made de Louis Quinze " is in-
telligible, because the danger of such conver-
sation must impart to it piquancy, but on a
calm consideration, the circumstances of the
countries are wholly dissimilar. The immense
extent of Russia and the isolation of the urban
communities must oppose almost insuperable
obstacles to revolutionary progress.
How the material power of this colossal
empire is to be checked forms the great pro-
blem of our day. Its continued aggression is
undeniably threatening to the liberties of the
rest of the world. The obedience of its people;
the solid wealth of its traders, independent of
maritime commerce; the great fertility and
vast extent of its territory ; the unlimited
despotism of its Government ; and the power
it possesses to bind all its provinces to-
gether, and bring them into prompt cor-
respondence with the central authority, are
elements of strength which we are only be-
ginning to comprehend in their full extent.
The Englishwoman only left Russia after
the war broke out. She is an evidence, there-
fore, of the changed feeling towards the Eng
lish which the quarrel produced. We gather
generally from her statements that the na-
tional spirit of Russia was enlisted on the
Emperor's side. The war itself was not
popular, she says, but all the blame of it was
attributed to the English and Lord Palmerston.
Preparations for hostilities on the mightiest
scale were made at St Petersburg, and, says
the Lady
In speaking of the Anglo• French invasion, the Russians
declared that if the enemy took Cronstadt they would them•
selves burn St. Petersburg. as they did Moscow in Isl 2.
Indeed,it looked somewhat as if they had the idea in view, for
all the great families were sending their jewels, plate, and
valuables into the interior, whilst many of them went to
their estates with the intention of remaining there a whole
year.—lb. 315.
She writes, a little further on :
The check that the Russian arms are receiving at oar
hands we may be well assured they will neither forgive
nor forget ; and even centuries to come they will, if they
have the power, take their revenge for it: it is their
national character, and they will never rest until their
thirst for vengeance is slaked, if it be possible.—lb. 321.
It is the fixed resolve of Russia to ultimately
attain her objects which renders her power so
dangerous to the peace of Europe, and also
renders it necessary that her hostility should
he met by a determination equal to her own.
" The State," said Burke, in one of his mo
inents of purest inspiration, " which is resolved
" to hazard its existence rather than abandon
" its objects must have an infinite advantage
" over that which is resolved to yield rather
1 " than carry its resistance beyond a certain
" point. The nation which bounds its efforts
i" only with its being must give the law to that
" which will not push. the opposition beyond

41

" its convenience." This is a truth which some
of our statesmen have yet to learn. In the
strife of nations the victory commonly belongs
not to the richest, the most civilised, or even
the strongest, but to tho most resolved and
enduring. The settlement of Europe is broken
up. We must prepare for a hollow truce or a
lengthened war.
The space occupied by this notice will
show our sense of the value of the Eng-
lishwoman's volume. The two books atten-
tively read will give an adequate notion of
Russian life, from the splendours of St. Peters-
burg and Moscow to the daily existence of
the peasant, dependent for bread on the
skill with which he uses his axe. The barba-
rous hordes of the North have often swept like
a cloud over the fairest portions of the civilised
world, but the circumstances of the existing
time are altogether novel, as the mightiest
empire of the North, ever ruled by a single will,
has now all its resources organised and all its
forces directed from a civilised centre—suffi-
ciently civilised, at least, to avail itself of all
the advantages of knowledge and science for
the operations of war. The peril is not to be
underrated. The slightest concession made
by the powers now standing iu opposition to
Russia will stamp them with degeneracy, and,
to the mind of the statesman and philosopher,
too surely foreshadow the future calamities of
the world.

The British Commonwealth ; or, a Commentary
on the institutions and Principles of British.
Government. By Homersham Cox, M.N.:
London : Longmans.
WHETHER any more "commentators" on the
English Constitution are required at present
may be variously answered. Lawyers (we use
the word in the learned, and not the vulgar
meaning) will possibly say that Mr. Sergeant
Stephen's "Commentaries Founded on Black-
stone " render any other work unnecessary.
But then it may be replied that neither Black-
stone nor Stephen discussed the English Con-
stitution with that boldness of tone and regard
for " first principles " which of late years has
come into vogue. The rise of a historical
school, also, which traces national develop-
ment through a long chain of moral causation,
has tended to produce dissatisfaction with
merely juridical works on our Constitution.
The difficulty, however, is to find minds ca-
pable of treating such a theme with exact
legal exposition and enlarged philosophical
views. It is not enough to state with accuracy
what actually is, but some will require that
" commentators" should be able to indicate
what ought to be, the law.
Mr H omersh am Cox has endeavoured to solve
the difficulty of giving{ us a thoroughly legal
view of our Constitution, and informing his
exposition with a philosophical spirit. Accus-
tomed to abstract science, and author of a well-
known work upon the " Differential Calculus,"
his present performance indicates a mind fami-
liar with sustained processes of ratiocination.
Thoroughly independent in his views, he has
produced a graceful sees, on a dry subject,
and displayed much acuteness and aptitude
for reflection in his volume. Between Eng-
lish society in its political reality, and the
English Constitution in its legal boundaries,
the essayist does not sufficiently discriminate.
It is true that he apprehends the distinction,
but he does not enforce or illustrate it with
the requisite clearness. In the main features
of the English Constitution there is an evident
moral unity, as seen in the various treatises of
Coke and Hale, or of Blackstone and Stephen ;
but between the living spirit of English so-
ciety at various periods what an amazing
diversity ! Thus it is apparently easy to pre-
scribe au English form of Ciovernment for
foreign countries, but we cannot transplant
the manners and customs under which it has
grown to maturity ; and the history of the last
ten years of Europe has proved that constitu-
tional seedlings do not flourish in eery soil.
Mr. Cox also shows that his views of life
are not of that close, practical character which
can be gained only by extensive knowledge of
classes of mankind. The man of thought
and bookish habits is evident in his pages,
and his proofs of opinions he advances
are taken from various speculative writers

42

rather than from the resources of his own
mind. In his conclusions on moral questions
a certain timidity is apparent. He has great
clearness of view within his mental range, and
the candour of his nature gives a judicial tone
to the language of his decisions, even when
the logical enunciation of opposing arguments
is not critically balanced. In some points he
is constitutionally orthodox according to the
Blackstonean creed, while occasionally he is
as heterodox as if he were a Benthamite or a
Cabinet Minister selected from the Westmin
ster reviewers. Wo shall exemplify some of
these characteristics in his volume.

At page 44 Mr. Homersham Cox writes :

- -
By the admirable balance of the Constitution the several
branches of the Legislature are kept in mutual check, so
that neither may gain supreme power, which is the ambi-
tion of all ruling bodies, and the greatest source of danger
to a commonwealth.

And he then cites a long and well-known pas-
sage from Blackstone. But he never cares to
inquire whether this " balance of the Consti-
tution' be a reality or a fiction, and, although
he applies to it the epithet " admirable," our
commentator does not investigate whether the
important changes of 1831.2 had any serious
effect upon disturbing or extinguishing this
boasted balance. Upon this question of the
reality of the three powers a constitutional
writer might dissent very profitably. We
know that,in his brilliant anti-Reform speeches,
Mr. Canning, in presence of many living per-
sons, often asserted that the abolition of the
rotten boroughs would derange the harmo-
nious acting of the branches of the Legisla-
ture. Within recent years, also, distinguished
statesmen have declared that the House of
Lords had become a mere " Chamber of the
" registration to the Commons." We recol-
lect, too, that Sir Robert Peel once rashly
said that " the government of the country
" must be carried on through the House of
" Commons "—a most dangerous maxim, as in
times' when parties are nearly equal a score of
unprincipled or malignantly-factious men
might decide the destiny of years. Nor can
we forget that Lord Derby has repeatedly
called attention to the encroachments by the
House of Commons on the time and privi-
leges for legislation which are the co-equal
inheritances of the House of Peers. Mr. Cox,
also, might have investigated the small pro
portion of members to agricultural consti-
tuencies, and the fact of such a large proportion
of the Lower House being subject to urban
influences. These are matters which have
close and actual relationship to the " admira-
" ble balance of powers."
On the subject of " party" in politics the
author is about as un-English in his modes of
thinking as if he were a I'eelite. He repeats
certain passages from Burke, Lord John Rus-
sell, and Lord Brougham, and condemns the
whole system of " party " in the following
words :

If I understand aright anything of the teachings of
modern history, they are gradually inculcating the lesson
that party is a rude and barbarous instrument of legislation,
only less bad than that legislation by despotic power which
it supplanted.

And he concludes the passage with the fol-
lowing declamatory utterance of a Utopian
vision :

We may fain hope that the era is coming—is at hand—
when party, having done that great task, will itself be at an
end. Nor is that too bright a hope of the progress ofcivili-
tuition which anticipates the time when legislation will no
longer depend on the relative strength of conflicting in-
terests ;—when the interests of the whole commonwealth
will be seen to be so inseparably connected that the injury
of one is the injury to all—justice to one, justice to all.

In all of his remarks on the question of party
we can trace the fallacies of a closet-thinker.
He does not look abroad into the world, and
see the advantages which more than compen-
sate for the evils of politicians combined into
party. Nor does he distinguish between the
spirit of faction and the principles of party.
The history of the unsuccessful National As-
semblies of France, and of the anomalous
junctions of American politicians, might teach
him the value of organisations with principles
on our English method. In France and
America popular government has been often
brought into disrepute by the anarchy result-
ing from want of party, and the waste of strife
engendered by knots of petty pretenders, who
would have been only political subalterns where