The Press.
London, England, 1856-01-12 00:00:00

THt PRtSB.

Solon or Lyturgns, or a Washington and
Jefferson, would find that mere general views
give way to the realities of life—" ce grand
mot des eirconstances," as Mine. de Stael was
fond of saying. In ascertaining what is exactly
practicable, in suiting his measures to the time
and people, are the special functions of the
elevated politician. The philosopher in his
book or professor's chair can only indicate the
ends—the statesman must strivo to procure
the means which conduct to the object of
Government.

Mr. O'Brien is evidently not a practical man.
His volumes are a mass of truisms. Yet we
must admire the candour which pervades the
work. The following remarks are excellent :

In a well•constituted State every individual ought to be
made to feel that he owes duties not only to his family
and to himself, but also to society ; and the performance
of such duties as he is qualified to undertake ought to be
assigned to him. One of the noblest characteristics of the
political institutions of Great Britain has been this allot-
ment of several of the functions of civil administration,—
such as those of magistrate, grand juror, mayor, and town
councillor, juryman, guardian of the poor, churchwarden,
harbour commissioner, member of Parliament, privy coun-
cillor, &c.—to the unpaid service of independent citizens.
Although it May be argued that these services would have
been more effectually performed by paid officials dependent
upon the central Government, yet, even if this point were
conceded, the advantage would be dearly purchased by a
sacrifice of that manly and self relying spirit which is gene-
rated by the exercise of social duties of a public nature,
and which is the best guarantee for the preservation of a
nation's liberty.
Again, no Conservative can object to the
following general remarks on aristocracy in
England. Nothing can be more true or
reasonable, but there is nothing novel in
them:—

In a country where an aristocracy has long existed,
whose names have been associated with the great achieve-
ments of its history, it is iu vain to attempt to eradicate
the disposition which will naturally exist to accord to them
a degree of respect that is withheld from those who possess
no such hereditary title to public homage. This feeling is
not only natural to man, but, when disconnected from
servility and adulation, is highly commendable. The hope
that such homage will be secured throughout all ages has
been one of the most powerful—and not the least honour
able— incentives that have impelled great men to noble
nndertaki,igs ; and if such sentiments be justifiable, in its
application to the descendants of illustrious men, bow
much more natural and legitimate is it when displayed
towards distinguished characters whilst alive. The most
confirmed democrat feels no jealously, when he sees such
men as Lord Chatham, the Duke of Wellington, Lord
Gough, Lord Denman, Lord liroughaui, Lord Lyndhurst,
or Lord Campbell, in the Legislature of his country. That
place is theirs by virtue not of popular favour or of royal
caprice—it is theirs by right.
In a discussion on the late Sir Thomas
Talfourd's Copyright Act, we recollect the
present Earl Stanht pe and the late Sir Robert
Inglis expressing a regret that the peerage
had not been opened to first-rate literary
talent. Conferring the titles, however, would
be useless unless estates or large pensions
were given to " keep them up " ; and time is
required to setiits seal on the greatness ofliterary
talent, unlike the acts of generals or admirals,
the value of whose exploits can at once be
decided.
- - -

On universal suffrage Mr. O'Brien •writes
not at all unlike a Conservative :

What portion of the population ought to enjoy the privi-
lege of choosing representatives?
It may be conceded as a general principle that it is de-
sirable that every man in the community should participate
in all civil rights, capacities, and privileges enjoyed by his
fellow-citizens; but if the circumstances of a population
be such, that the establishment of universal suffrage would
have the effect either of causing revolution, or of placing
undue power in the hands of an individual, or of enabling
an oligarchy to overrule the independent intelligence of
the country, a statesman should pause before he yields to
the suggestion of an abstract principle in favour of what
appears to be a realisation of democratic power, but which
may, in truth, become the means of introducing arbitrary
government. There have been but few countries in which
the labouring population have possessed sufficient know-
ledge of political science to enable them to form correct
and independent opinions respecting public affairs. They
have, therefore, naturally placed their confidence in those
who have appeared to them best entitled to their favour; and
thus the votes of thousands have often expressed only the
opinions of a single individual. In such a state of society
it is manifest that the reasoning intelligence of the country
would be more fully represented if the franchise were
limited to those who are qualified by education to form
enlightened opinions respecting political questions, than if
it were granted t) every, adult of the population. The
usurpation by Louis Napoleon of autocratic power in
France, and the ratification of that usurpation by the
French people voting under universal suffrage, screened
by the ballot, affin ds an illustration which shows that iu-
stitutions the most democratic in form are not always thoie
Which are..most,inximed. a with the true spirit of. liberty. In
this case we have seen yery large mrijotity of the electori

41

(above six millions otit of seven millions) voluntarily stir=
rendering their national liberties to the will of a single
man. It may be doubted whether such would have been
the result of au appeal to the intelligent and independent
middle classes of the French nation. History supplies
many other examples which show that the lowest class of
the population have often been prompted to abdicate their
political rights, and have invested a favorite leader with
arbitrary power.

- -
The work abounds in similar passages, just,
and without passion, but wanting novelty of
thought and brilliancy of illustration. Yet
the following reflection reads with originality of
effect, when we recollect the antecedents of
the writer. It is extremely applicable to the
Whigs, with their spurious syhtein of real
intimidation and pretended " democracy " :
The use of mob-influence is the most dangerous mode
of invading public freedom that a designing Minister can
adopt, because it overthrows liberty in the name of liberty
itself. Let us suppose, for instance, that a wicked king or
Minister were desirous to extinguish the legislative freedom
now enjoyed by the British nation. He would probably
fail in his design if he were to resort to what the French
call a coup d'etat, and attempt to suppress by force the
meeting of Parliament. He would command a much
greater chance of success if he were to propose ultra-
democratic measures which the Legislature would certainly
reject, and thus bring to his support the intimidation of a
mob. A Legislature divested of the support both of the
executive and of the people is nothing more than a small
assembly of individuals, in themselves *holly powerless.
The British Parliament has frequently lost for a time the
confidence of the public, but it has on such occasions
been sustained by the physical power which is placed
under the command of the executive. Were that support
withdrawn, mob-intimidation mightwholly paralyse its pro-
ceedings. Calm deliberation is at an end, when it is inter-
rupted by the roars of a multitude. The proceedings of the
different legislative assemblies which were convened in
France, during the progress of the French Revolution of
1789, sufficiently testify the results which must ensue if
mobs be allowed to interrupt the deliberations of a Legis-
lature. It is not easy to say what course of proceeding
ought to be adopted by a legislative assembly when the
executive refuses to aid in preserving order throughout its
deliberations. Perhaps the most prudent course, and that
which will best conduce to the preservation of public
liberty, is to refuse altogether to proceed to business until
perfect tranquillity shall be restored.
The " spirit of a gentleman " is visible in
the following remarks on promotion in the
army, and the patriotism of a military aris-
tocracy is well observed upon :
It is undoubtedly desirable that the arrangements of the
army and navy shall be such as to attract, rather than to
repel, young men who possess the advantages of rank and
of wealth. It is a great safeguard to a country, not only
against foreign enemies, but also against domestic usurpers,
that its armies should be filled with persons whose circum-
stances and connections in life are such as naturally attach
them to the maintenance of national freedom. It is far
easier for an usurper to win the support of men who have
nothing to rely upon but their military pay than it would
be for even a Wellington to make the military aristocracy
of the British army subservient to the designs of his per-
sonal ambition. A military career has been considered in
all ages the most honourable sphere of exertion for young
men of spirit, whose circumstances render them indepen-
dent of the drudgeries of life ; and it is surely better that
the young aristocracy of a country should employ them.
selves in inertial exercises or achievements, than that they
should give themselves up to effeminate pleasures. In
opening the highest gradations of the army and nary to
merit and ability, in whatever rank these qualities may
be found, it is apprehended by some that the tone of
manners would be lowered by the introduction of vulgarity.
It is our belief that grounds for such apprehension would
not exist, if educational as well as professional attain-
ments were made a test upon which promotion should
depend. It is found that barristers sprung from the lowest
ranks of society take their place beside the most refined
members of the aristocracy of Great Britain without in-
flicting upon the order to which they have been introduced
by their abilities any disparagement through vulgarity o
manners. f
Mr. O'Brien's " exile " gave him an oppor-
tunity of witnessing the effects of transporta-
tion as a secondary punishment. He is in
favour of its continuance; and the subject is
of such importance that we shall give at length
his whole view upon it:—
Of late there has been, amongst political philosophers,
a general disposition to decry thintiportation as a means of
punishment. This disposition has been strengthened, if
not created, by a keen perception of the evils which result
to an adolescent community from the continued introduc•
Lion of criminals of the worst class into its bosom. These
evils are so obvious, that nothing but the most reckleiti
selfishness could bare induced the Government of Great
Britain to continue to pour into the Australian colonies a
stream of pollution, long after those colonies had ceased
to bear the characteristics of merely penal settlements.
The loyalty of the colonies was so severely tested, that
probably open resistance would have ensued if the cessa-
tion of transportation had not at length been proclaimed
in time to soothe the increasing indignation of the people,
and to undermine the organisation to which that indigna-
tion had gkeit rise.
But the merits or the demerits of transportation, its
system of secondary punishment, ought not to be tri
upon such an issue as that which presented itself '

Aug Publ:c opi lion is becoming every day more
and mole averse to Ole penalty of death. A certain
number of o.wuders are therefor.- to be kept under resnaint
for a protract- 1 period, extending, in some cases, even to
the whole duration of life. Wiiat is to be done with these
criminals? Th.y must be kept somewhere. Is it better
that they should be kept in confinement at home, than
that they should be sent to a distant colon•, and there
placed under such discipline as shall fit them for return to
the ordinary intercourse of society ? In determining these
questions, we ought to bear in mini the objects with a
♦iew to which punishment is inflicted upon criminals.
These are : _

First.—The prevention of crime. In a well-governed
community punishment is inflicted, not by way of revenge,
but in order that it may deter others as well as the criminal
himself from repeated perpetration of the offence for
which punishment is inflicted.
Secondly.—Removal of the criminal from the scene of
his delinquencies.
Thirdly.—The reformation of the prisoner.
Now, it will be found that all these three objects are
more fully effectuated by transportation than by any other
description of restraint. It is true, indeed, that transpor-
tation ceased to be regarded with apprehension when it
conducted criminals to a country in which they could earn
high wages, and obtain, as prisoners, a greater command
over the luxuries of life than is attainable at home by
honest labour. Still less was it regarded with apprehen-
sion when it placed the criminal in a position from which
he might reasonably hope to be able to escape to a neigh•
bouriog region abounding in gold, where opportunities of
success presented themselves to adventurers of every kind.
But transportation to a region in which no such extraordi-
nary opportunities of success are thrown into the path A
t'te offender, is felt to be a very severe infliction. I gnomi•
nious removal to an unknown and distant land, attended,
in most cases, by perpetual separation from friends and
kindred, and from all those associations to which even the
rudest and hardest minds become attached, attended, also,
by a certain assurance that many years must he spent
there in severe toil, presents to the idle and depraved
offender terrors much more appalling than temporary incar-
ceration, even for a protracted period, in a place of con-
finement at home could awaken. In some cases, apprehen-
sion of this infliction would, probably, deter from crime as
efleetnally as the penalty of death itself. Transportation,
therefore, when judiciously conducted, tends to fulfil the
first of the objects which are to be accomplished by the
punishment of crime.
The permanent removal of an offender from his old
haunts is an advantage to society the value of which
cannot be too highly estimated ; and to the criminal him-
self this removal offers the best chance of his recovering a
character for good conduct. If, after incarceration, an
offender be let loose in the country in which he was
originally convicted, he naturally returns to his old asso-
ciations and former habits; indeed, it seems scarcely
possible for him to escape this destiny. His character
having been destroyed, he is stigmatised as a felon where.
ever he goes, and finds every honest occupation closed
against him; he is, therefore, compelled to betake himself
t t depredation as a means of acquiring a livelihood, and
he naturally becomes an irrecuncileable enemy to that
society which repels him from its bosom. If, on the con-
trary, he be carried to a new country, a new career is
opened to him. After having undergone penal infliction
for a term sufficiently long to satisfy the requirements of
penal policy, he finds himself in circumstances which
enable him to procure a livelihood by honest exertion. If
he remain in a penal colony, he feels that he is not more
degraded than those who surround him, and may hope to
obtain credit for good conduct even amongst a community
of felons. If, on the other hand, he receive what is called
" a conditional pardon," that is, a pardon subject to the
condition that he shall not return previous to the expiry of
his sentence to the country in which he was originally
convicted, he is enabled to emigrate to some quarter of
the word in which his previous delinquencies are unknown,
and in which he may, by industry, probity, and frugality,
acquire a position in society such as never would have
been attained by him in his own country.
Upon these grounds, I am of opinion that transportation
is the most advantageous kind of secondary punishment,
provided it be carried on without inflicting an injury upon
communities, whose social welfare a paternal Government
is bound to protect.

As we have intimated, we do not rate highly
the utility of works so full of mere generalities
as these volumes But they are certainly
curious as the production of " an agitator," and
are highly creditable to the author's pen. Their
style is smooth, and entirely devoid of affecta-
tion. With fewer truisms and with more facts,
the work might have a practical utility wanted
in its present form.