The Press.
London, England, 1857-01-24 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

sires again to be at the bead of affairs, and to
be inditing epigrammatic letters to insurrec-
tionary reform societies about " the whisper of
" a faction," and " the voice of the people."
He is urged to such & course, not only by that
insatiable vanity which has so often beau
satirised, but by the instincts of self-preserva-
tion. His political fortunes are now at their
lowest ebb. For some time past he has been
stranded. He longs for the popular wave
which is to float him again, and he would hail
its appearance, even though attended by " the
" signs of a storm black in the horizon,' which
he deprecated as ominous in his famous
" Letters to the Electors of Stroud."

FAILURE OF THE WHIG FINANCIERS.

QUESTION 3 of finance will become of great Par-
liamentary importance in the ensuing session.
The intense interest felt in so many directions
about the Income Tax, and the economical
questions dependent on its abolition, or its
modifications, will probably cause " figure-
members " to occupy the floor of the House in
many an adjourned debate of the next few

months.
It is a most striking circumstance that since
the days of WALPOLE the Whigs never pro-
duced a financier of celebrity. At pamphleteer-
ing, essay writing, speech making, and at
political strokes of faction, many of their
champions have excelled ; but finance is a sub-
ject on which Whigs have been ineffective
and unpractical. Many of us recollect how
much the Reform party, even in the full tide
of its success, was injured in 11.333 and 1834
by the blundering budgets of Lord ALTHORPE.
The state of the party with respect to finan-
ciers was hopeless when they accepted Mr.
SPRING RICE, after ten or twelve years Parlia-
mentary experience, for a Chancellor of the
Exchequer ; and the fact that Sir CHARLES
WOOD is now First Lord of the Admiralty con-
clusively shows how little confidence even his
friends possess in his financial capacity. Yet
of the two we incline to think that Sir CHARLES
Woon would be a better Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer than Sir CORNEWALL LEWIS, who will
assuredly have no sinecure of the post in this
current year. It is not concealed by the poli-
tical friends of the present Ministry that fears
are entertained lest the Cabinet should pre-
maturely shipwreck on finance. Sir ROBERT
PEEL knew the Whigs well, when be predicted
during the Melbourne Ministry that the Libe-
rals would break down on finance. So they
did in 18-11, when even the Radical manufac-
turers and the universal shopkeepers of Eng-
land were rejoiced for the sake of public credit,
and the prosperity of trade, to see the Tories
in office.
It is, indeed, almost a Whig tradition that
finance should never be well studied by the
leaders of the party. Lord BROUGHAM has re-
corded how " Lord JOHN CAVENDISH, one of the
" smallest of mankind," was made Chancellor
of the Exchequer in the Rockingham Ministry.
Mr. Fox acknowledged in the House of
Commons that he had not read " The Wealth
of Nations ;" and Lord JOHN RUSSELL, not
many years since, in a moment of unguarded
frankness, confessed that ho "was not very
" practical in arithmetical matters." Lord
PALMERSTON is not a Whig, neither is he a
financier. The Liberals believe that his
Lordship holds many heretical opinions on
political economy, and the manner in which he
debated the question of " Free Trade" showed
that he did not thoroughly understand the
conflicting arguments on either side.
Finance is not a subject well suited for the
Liberal party. Its problems cannot be solved
in a quasi sense, like the half truths of consti-
tutional metaphysics. Claptraps will avail
little when men know that their breeches
pockets will be repeatedly visited by any
blundering of " Mr. Chancellor of the Exche-
" quer." Sentiment is often a powerful agent
iu politics, but emotion is useless when sta-
tistics form the staple matter of speeches.
Flowing exordiums and spirited perorations are
thrown away in a fitiancill debate; and the
crowd of the Liberals feel ill at ease when they

SATURDAY,

see Lord Jour; RUSSELL floundering through a
column of figures, or Lord PALMERSTON com-
posing his features, and assuming a pupil's
look, as Mr. Jassa WILSON, the Member• for
Westbury, proceeds to elucidate plainly his
profound conviction that the aforesaid Mr. J.
. WILSON is an impersonation of ADAM SMITH,
PITT, and Husxissort, and that he alone is
competent to be Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Nobody better knows than Mr. WiLsor4 that
" the Whigs never had a financier since the
" days of WALPOLE." He hopes to be ac•
cepted as " the coming man" in the present
straits of their party ; and the pride of
" the families" must not be a little humbled
at the fact that no RUSSELL, GREY, CAVENDISH,
or HOWARD, has ever made a financier's fame.
It is worth thinking of these things, when
by good management the country might he
relieved of all or the greater part of the Income
Tax. When people ask to have the tax les-
sened or I emoved, it would be well also if they
asked, " Where are the Whig Financiers ?"

THE FALKLAND ISLANDS AS A PENAL
SETTLEMENT.
IT is now some months since we called the
attention of our readers to these islands as
likely to afford a suitable locality for the dis-
posal of our convicts. We threw out the sug-
gestion in hopes that the question might be
fairly investigated; and it is with great plea-
sure that we now see it assuming the impor-
tance and obtaining the publicity it deserves.
We can, indeed, lay no claim to originality
in the proposal of this scheme. Ever since the
Falkland Islands have received any share
whatever of public attention, their peculiar
convenience for the formation of a penal
establishment has been urged by a succession
of writers and travellers. Captain FITZROY,
who visited them in an official capacity between
1825-30, notices that they were eligible for
a settlement of this character. He commented
on their climate, soil, and productiveness, as
being all unobjectionable. Wheat ripened
sometimes ; vegetables, especially potatoes,
were raised in abundance ; an excellent breed
of cattle fed upon the grassy plains and by
the numerous fresh-water lakes which lay
among them ; the extensive woods which
existed in parts of the island were tenanted
by herds of wild hogs ; and the surrounding
sea afforded inexhaustible supplies of fish. The
objection, indeed, taken to Captain FrrzaoY's
recommendation by the politicians of the day
was, that the Falkland Islands were too
agreeable and fertile a region to answer the
purposes of a penal colony. But we have pro-
gressed in philanthropy since then.
Lieutenant SULLIVAN, writing in 1841, states
that in the Falkland Islands corn would have
more sun upon it than it has in Eng-
land ; that the principal impediment to the
growth of vast crops of it would arise from the
level character of the country and absence of
shelter from the violent tropical gales which
sometimes sweep over it, and which no eel eal
crops could possibly survive. But he adds,
that on the slopes of the hills and in the val-
leys very considerable quantities could be
raised until artificial shelter could be obtained
elsewhere.
Mr. HADFIELD, who published a work on
this subject about three years ago, confirms
the opinions of previous writers, and tells us
that the Falkland Islands had been specially
recommended to Government as a penal
colony by the Colonial Land and Emigration
Commissioners. The climate is cold, but so far
from rigorous, that, as we have before said,
it has been doubted whether it would not be
too favourable. The latitude south is the
same as that of the English midland counties
north. The Falkland group consists of two
large islands, and several hundred smaller
ones, equal altogether in size to about one-
half of Belgium. They are two hundred and
fifty miles from the nearest land, and that land
is either uninhabited or peopled entirely by
savages. No coasting traffic exists, or could
I exist, as it did in Australia, to facilitate the
escape of prisoners The islands contain
abundance of stone and slate for building par-

JANUARY 24, 1857.

:fittraturt.

Quatre Ana de Rigne—Olt en &mimes none t I
Par Dr. Veron. Paris: Librairie Nouvelle.
ALTHOUGH, as all the world knows, poor Dr.
Veron long since tumbled from his high
political position in France, it is impossible
for him, from the prestige he derives from his
oast repute, and from his operatio, journalistic,
senatorial, gastronomic, literary, and quack-
medicine-selling renown, to publish anything
which does not create profound sensation
amongst all classes of the good city of Paris.
Of all the works to which he could put his
hand, none was so calculated to excite a
perfect hubbub of curiosity as a treatise on
the political situation of France, or, to use the
Doctor's own expression, on " where we are "
at the present juncture, after " four years'
reign." We therefore learn without surprise
that everybody in Paris—regardless of the
Conferences, the Neufchatel question, the
murder of the Archbishop, the Chinese war,
and everything else—is just now devouring,
discussing, abusing, wondering at, admiring,
or ridiculing the volume before us, which has
just been ushered into the world.
The foreign reader will perhaps expect that
the Doctor's answer to his own question,
"Where are we?" will be an exposition, more
or less elaborate, of the present political,
moral, social, and material condition of France.
But little does he know the jovial Doctor ! On
finance, commerce, agriculture, the state of
religion, the growth of crime, and other grave
subjects which form the condition of a country,
the good gentleman says not a word. Even
the purely political position of France he treats
only under ,:ertain aspects, and he d.)es that
in a flighty style, which renders his opinions
of no great value. But then he hears many
anecdotes cf Doted personages, and he tells
them ; and :re is very sarcastic on all his con-
temporaries on whom it is safe to be so.
We will go rapidly through the volume, and
cull here turd there a few passages which may
amuse the reader. If he does not find much
consecutiseness in them, he must remember
that it is Dr. Veron's fault, not ours.
After a )rief sketch of the principal events
of the fort• years' reign of the Emperor, M.
Veron gives this description of his Majesty :
Far from fillowing the old lines traced in politics, the
Emperor avods them, and draws out new ones. An apostle
of Napoleonim ideas, lie is neither a sceptic nor a doubter,
like the cenury in which he lives. He is of a calm and
firm mind, as a noble and haughty soul, full of courage,
boldness, arlent convictions, and generous sentiments.
He believes n democracy to which all European societies
are marching, with steps more or less slow and through
obstacles more or less difficult. He loves the people; but
he will not giver° by them though he governs for tilt m.
He thinks, Ina he has always thought, that the ancien re•
lime is ended, and he will attempt all things to render the
new regime linable. He will not—and the forco of his will
is great—albw the revolution of 1759 to remain sterile and
impuissant.
privations aid misery of the necessitous population and of
the working classes, to pacify society by labour, to illustrate
his reign and to astonish his century by the creation of
useful insti utions which do good to all, and by great things
which speak to all imaginations. It is in this path that
the Erupera has already marched with a step rapid and
sure.

But the Doctor asks if France is, as might
be expec ed, full of enthusiasm and devoted-
ness for the Emperor? He does not answer
his own question, but says that " the silence
"of the press, exaggerated and profound,
" makes -night "; that in France " there is still
" a left aid a riyht" (or, as we should say, a
Minister al party and an Opposition) ; and
that whist the Emperor " is chief of the left,
" his Ministers represent the right, and oppose
" him." This will seem " bosh" to the reader,
and so I does to us ; but it is the Doctor's
own language.
He than rebukes M. de Remusat, M. de
Tocqueville, and other eminent men, for the
protesta:ious in favour of liberty they have
recently made; but he complains that under
the present Government there is not room for
rn►ulnttoz, though it is necessary for the
French :
In Frame, we like movement, we like intelligence, we
like to fee: that we live, we like glory, we desire opportu-
nities of destining and the means of obtaining it. But
ore not tht Senate and the Legislative Body the surest
retreat at ?resent in which a man can cause himself to VS

THE PRESS.

forgotten ? Such or such a deputy of these dap', whose
eloquence and whose labours would certainly cause great
éclat, if they were known out of doors, is now less known
than the most obscure member of thel old Parliaments.

Does not this give hostile parties the pretext for saying,
though very unjustly, that the Government of Napoleon
111. only counts amongst its legislators and its function-
aries a majority of supernumeraries, chosen and preferred
fir their blind submission and their adulatory com-
plaisance ?
- -

The Doctor then goes on to criticise the
constitution of the Senate, and, in violation of
the law which declares the deliberations of
that body secret, he relates at length a discus-
sion which took place therein ; although he
says that, according to the text of the Con-
stitutionithat discussion was altogether irregu-
lar and illegal. He also gives an account of
the debate in the same body on the Senatus
Consultum for the establishment of a regency,
which account is another violation of the law.
He next, at very great and very wearisome
length, passes in review the labours of the
Legislative Body. He contrasts the discus-
sions carried on in a conversational tono in
that body with the fierce debates of the old
Parliaments ; and, quoting Tacitus, he says,
not without a sneer, that Napoleon 111., like
Augustus, has " pacified eloquence like every-
" thing else." He complains that those dis-
cussions are not allowed to be reported in the
newspapers as they take place, but that bald,
emasculated summaries of them can only be
given. He describes the principal speakers
of the Chamber, and says goodnatured things
of some of them, illnatured things of others.
He reveals the petty grievances and the
private conversations of the legislators, and
amongst his revelations is this one :

In the private conversations whichitake place every day
I have heard men express themselves discouraged and
downhearted—alarmed for the future, disquittel at the
restrictions placed on the body to which they belong . . .
suffocating in an atmosphere which seems to them heavy
),nd burning, they believe they hear at a distance the noise
of conflicts and the roll of thunder!

The Doctor next reviews the Council of
State, and draws pen and ink portraits in his
fashion of the gentlemen who compose it.
He relates anecdotes of several of them Here
is one of M. Villemain, brother of the eminent
writer and academician :

He was asked one day ironically, on the birth of the
Imperial Prince, why the title of " *Child of France " was
given to him. " Because he is the grandson of Universal
Suffrage !" was his answer.
M. h'eron's next subject, lugged in apropos
des Lotto, is a disquisition on the manner in
which the official Mostiteur ought to be edited,
and a complaint of the negligence with which
the present editor discharges his duty. What
can this unfortunate editor have done to have
offended the redoubtable Doctor ?
We now arrive at a chapter entitled " The
Institute," and the Doctor wants to know
" where we arc " with regard to that learned
body. He answers himself by detailing at
some length the various acts of opposition
which the Institute, and especially two
academies of it, that of Moral and Political
Sciences and the Academie Franco.ise (com•
posed for the most part of ex-Ministers and
eminent politicians), thought fit to indulge in
against the Emperor and his Government
But he says that the Institute, with the excep-
tion of some few individuals, has become far
less hostile than it was. He insinuates that
the Emperor ought to be elected a member
of it :

Does not his great talent as a writer give him the right
of citizenship in the republic of letters? The poet
Beranger once said, " If only for his proclamations I
would nominate Napoleon 111. a member of the French
Academy !"
Newspapers and books form the subject of
the chapter that follows. On newspapers the
Doctor thus discourses :
A drawing-room game, which places in relief the spirit
of apropos, to require antinstant (answer to any question
proposed off hand. In one of the private parties at the
Tr.ileries, this question was put. to the Emperor:—" How
can you distinguish truth from falsehood ? ' ' Open the
door to both of them " answered the Emperor, and
falsehood will come out first."
It is perhaps falsehood which first of all slips into
newspapers, but truth always ends by forcing its way in.
In a dark night we see phantoms which a little light
causes to disappear. Silence makes people think, and the
thoughts which besiege us during a long silence are gene-
rally full of disquietude, distrust, and fear. Ido not hesi-
tate to believe that if, in spite of all the great things
accomplished during four years' reign, there now exists
some bad cuctenta is public opiaioa, they are owing to

87

the exaggerated silence of the press. The moving dram*
of the Eastern war .
interest public opinion ; but at present may not the flat
calm of politics, and the apparent immobility of a Govern-
ment which seems not to act because little is said of what
it does, suggest hostile prejudices and false and unjust
suppositions ?

The Doctor then describes the terrible restric-
tions to which newspapers are now subjected,
and the anxiety their conductors undergo,
lest by publishing anything offensive to the
Government they should run the risk of
having the paper stopped, and so ruin the
numerous families whose fortunes are wholly
or partly invested in them. He says that one
of the consequences of those restrictions is
that, the French papers not daring to speak of
public personages, the French public actually
know less about their own Ministers than
those of foreign countries.
His next chapter, which is on the Ministry
of State and of the household of the Emperor,
contains a very illnatured article on M. Achille
Fould—:tll the more illnatured from being
written with affected mildness and kindliness.
According to the Doctor, his Excellency,
though charged with the imperial patronage
of literature and art, has "little taste for litera-
ture," or for that of the theatre, and cares
little for writers, for poetry, and for poets.
He, besides, is possessed of little educa-
tion, reads little, and never makes a
quotation from Virgil or Horace. He ,
moreover, is too economical fur the Minister
of an Emperor, and heinous crime !—he
made the Doctor pay for a box at the Opera,
which for many years he had, in his quality of
ex-director of the theatre, occupied gratui-
tously.
And now once more asks the Doctor,
arrived at his 350th page, " where are we ?"
France, during the four years' reign of Napoleon 111.,
has, so to speak, been labouring under a constant fever.
But in spite of our manufacturing progress, in spite of
the glory of our victories, in spite of the peace in Europa
which has followed them, France perhaps does not feel as
she ought to do : one would say that she is almost in that
state of malaise and disquietude winch succeeds to pro-
found excitations. This moral condition is aggravated by
unexpected symptoms and incidents—the dearness of
living, the increase of house rent, and the monetary crisis.
A revolution in France at present, the Doctor
says, would be more serious than:any that have
yet taken place :
Tt would not only be the new and the old regimes—not
only the elder and the younger branch, the dynasty of th.
Bourbons and that of the Napoleons, which would be
opposed to each other, hut it would be the Itepublic,—it
would be Socialism,—in all parts there would be civil war.
What arm would be sufficiently powerful to stop the effu-
sion of blood? In the midst of tempests and of ruins,
what sword would protect, in presence of European rivali-
ties, the dignity and national glory of France now re-
conquered? What form of government would prevail?
what pretender would be elected, or would attain power
without election? If a revolution were to break out now,
France would have neither vessel nor pilot.
From these considerations, the Doctor comes
to the conclusion that " Napoleon 111. is more
" than ever necessary,"—and as he says his
Majesty will not hesitate to place himself on
a level with the ideas of his tiines, he de-
nounces those who oppose him, and predicts
that, thanks to him, " the second half of the
"nineteenth century will finish better than it
commenced." Nevertheless the Doctor pro-
claims that " the mutism of newspapers and
" the too restricted action of the Legislative
" Body are dangers for the present and the
" future."
Such is a resume of Dr. Veron's new work.

Descriptive Essays. Contributed to the Quarterly
Review. By Sir Francis B. Head. Two

Vols. London : Murray.
Tile titlepage to these entertaining volumes
represents an inverted number of a Quarterly
Review, under which a hen has just hatched
her brood of chickens, and the engraving is
accompanied by the following preface :
This brood of literary chickens, all of which, save one,
have been hatched in the Quarierly Review, now migrate
from their coop to fare in the wide word fur themselves.
The proverb says, "Birds of a feather flock together,"
hut in this motley group the reader will find that in size,
in substance, and iu colour, there are no two of them
alike.
The author is mistaken. All the essays have
obviously the same parentage—his chickens
are all of the same breed. If we were to adopt
the always lire y ouct gft9n witty harouet'q

I

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