The Press.
London, England, 1856-05-24 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

MAY 24, 1856.

HOW TO DEAL WITH THE ITALIAN
QUESTION.
(IN A MANNER STRICTLY ACCORDANT WITH THE PRECEDENTS OF '48.1

Snub the reigning Prince,
Cheer the rebel nation,
At their wrongs evince
Fiercest indignation ;
Let your Liberal Lords
Whisper disaffection,
Hint at British swords
Helping insurrection.

Seems sedition dead?
Fan the flame and feed it;
Offer every aid,
Till they chanco to need it.
Still, through thick and thin,
Back them up (in writing) ;
Say, " Go in and win ;"
Keep away from fighting.

When they feel the yoke,
When they find you've ratted,
When, 'neath many a stroke,
Smarts the back you patted,
O'er each bloody fray,
O'er each ruined city,
You need only say,
" Dear me—what a pity !"

MORE SURRENDERS.
(From the Government Organ.)

WE are delighted to be able to assure the British public the Queen's
Ministers are so far from being deterred by the foolish and bigoted
hostility which has been offered to their resignation of the maritime
supremacy of England, that it is their intention to follow out the
spirit of that eminently enlightened and philanthropic measure, and
to seek, by every means in their power, to destroy and efface that
ridiculous and unphilosophical prejudice in favour of English supb-
riority which makes England so unpopular throughout the world.
We do not habitually agree with Lord Grey, but he rightly estimated
the views of the Government in complimenting them, during the dis-
cussion of Lord Colchester's absurd resolutions, upon their patriotic
abnegation of all "national pride." Any feeling less in conformity
with the spirit of the age can hardly be conceived ; and we rejoice to
state that the present Government, which has thus boldly sacrificed
one of the most important bulwarks of that unworthy prejudice, will
follow up their principles by eradicating, as far as Parliament and
the country will permit, all memorials calculated to give offence to
any of the nations to conciliate whom Englani has resigned the
sovereignty of the sea.
Several bills, with this intention, will be shortly introduced into
both Houses. Among them is a measure for altering the arms of the
United Kingdom, as displayed on our banners and coins, and in-
serting devices which do not speak of British victories. An act will
be introduced for altering the name of Waterloo-bridge to that of
Concord-bridge; for changing the name of Trafalgar-square to Con-
ciliation-place ; and for removing the statue of Nelson and the works
at the base of the column, substituting Baron Marochetti's figure of
Peace, now at the Crystal Palace, and some designs illustrative of the
arts of agriculture and manufacture. The National Anthem and
"Rule Britannia" will both be altered into strains of a less defiant
and more pacific character;—for " scatter her enemies" will be in-
scribed " convince her enemies ;" and for " make them fall," will be
" make them kind." In the second anthem, " Britannia ploughs the
waves" will be the appropriate substitution for a statement now ren-
dered at variance with the fact,—Britannia ruling the waves no
longer. All allusions to the British lion are henceforth to be punish-
able as misdemeanours. The various monuments in St. Paul's, and
elsewhere, will be carefully examined by a commission to be appointed
for that purpose; and all which relate to achievements within the
memory of the present generation will be removed, but the older ones
will be permitted to remain, in evidence of the improvement which
civilisation has wrought among us.
The services of religion will also be revised, for it is unbearble
that when a foreigner enters an English church he should be insulted
by hearing petitions that England may be prosperous and triumphant.
The I iturgy will be carefully corrected, and all bellicose language
carefully expunged ; and we are happy to state that this duty has

493

been undertaken by Mr. W. J. Fox, who will approach it unprejudiced
by any of the narrow-minded superstition that has dictated too many
of our religious observances.

Considerable attention has been given to the question, whether
an army and a navy which preserve the traditions of so many victo-
ries should not be abolished altogether; but upon mature delibera-
tion it has been thought that by retaining these establishments, and
taking every opportunity of lowering and discrediting them (as na-
tional institutions) in the eyes of the world, the great lesson of humi.
lity will be better enforced than by their abolition. Consequently the
navy will be ordered, on all occasions, to do homage to the flags of
other nations, more especially to the weakest, and British officers will
be instructed to put themselves, upon all practicable occasions, at the
disposal of the authorities of any country with whom we are at peace.
Our regiments will be removed from Canada, and all other places
where their presence can give offence; but some of our allies have in-
timated that our soldiers would not be entirely without utility, should
hostilities again break out, and therefore, in deference to their wishes
the army will be kept on foot. Tt is hoped that the system of educe:
tion about to be adopted will teach the sailors and soldiers to avoid
everything like vaunt or self-assertion; and by general orders all allu-
sion to past combats or successes will be strictly forbidden. The ships
will be newly christened, and new banners will be issued to all the
regiments, with humane mottoes blazoned thereon, instead of an
offensive record of victories.

A still larger policy, but one entirely in conformity with the spirit
which dictated the surrender of our supremacy, will also be submitted
to Parliament. It is a lamentable but a notorious fact, that many of
her Majesty's possessions have accrued to her by conquest in the time
of her predecessors, and that this circumstance gives much offence to
the inhabitants of the countries from whom these conquests have been
wrested. It is not proposed blindly to restore, wholesale, all that we
may have thus acquired, but it is designed, with the sanction of Par-
liament, to lay all our titles to such possessions before a tribunal of
arbitration, to be composed of representatives of foreign nations, and
it will be for this tribunal to decide which, if any, of such territories
shall be retained. It will be left to the good feeling which cannot
but be evoked by such proceedings, to provide for the interests of
such British subjects as may thus be required to change their
allegiance.

Representations have been made by the American Government
that many of our feudal and aristocratic institutions are exceedingly
offensive to the inhabitants of the States, who are compelled, by the
intercourse of commerce, to be perpetually reminded of such things.
They had suggested the abolition of all titles of honours, hut, on the
other hand, it was feared that the compliance with this otherwise rea-
sonable request wruld give offence to France, where the conservation
of an aristocracy is the desire of the Emperor. Under these circum-
stances, and anxious to please all parties, the Government have de-
cided that upon the whole it will be better to postpone any of the
reforms desired by the Americans ; but, in order to meet their views,
in all diplomatic and other correspondence with America titles will be
disused, and Lord Clarendon will set the example by signing himself
simply " George W. Villiers." It is hoped that this concession, and
the changes in the English flag and otherwise, will remove all cause of
offence to the citizens of the Republic.

These r3forms will be submitted to Parliament, which has tole-
rated the surrender of our maritime supremacy, and which, therefore,
can hardly be expected to exhibit an unreasonable impatience of any
of the logical consequences of that submission. But, should the
Houses prove restive, we believe that the requisite changes will be
made by the sole authority of Government, which takes a rightful view
of its position, and alike dispenses, upon occasion, with the directions
of the Crown and with the sanctions of the Legislature. " Alone it
does it."