The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-09-12

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We have already adverted to the memorable
service which Dir. Gladstone conferred on tho
cause Of civil aud relig as liberty, by the pub
lcation Of his two letters to Lord Aberdeen, on
the state prosecutions of the Neapolitan gov
eminent. IL To- indeed, impossible to give too
much publicity to the details Of that dispa
eionate and horrifyiug indictment; but we have
our reasons for Just now recurring TO the sub
ject. IL will be very long before we exhaust the
materials therein supplied for estimating the
form assumed by acounter-revolutionary move
ment in Southern Europe; but we cannot take
too early an opportunity of placing before our
readers two very obvious deductions on
the general foreign policy Of England
The first thought that strikes us, in connex
ion with an English criticism on this subject.
is, we need not say, very painful one We
came forget that the conserya i've party in this
country, and Mr.. Gladstone himself az one OF
its most distinguished members are inextrcabIy
involved in very deep responsibility for the
countenance they heretofore extended to the au
thor Of these outrages. Ii is not 40 very long
since every resource of literal ure, from the we'll
bred pages of the Quarterly Repiew to the
slovenly and passionate invectves of Mr. Baltic
Cochrane and Mr.. Macfarane, was applied to
the task of paIating the iniquities popuIarly
imputed to the royalst commanders in Sicily or
Naples or Of balancing them with absolutely
imaginary narratives Of similar excesses on tho
liberal side. Formal depositions, authenticated
under the hand Of British consuls and naval
officers recieced with simple disbelief and the
matter-of fact title very naturally affixed bv
Lord PaImerston to blue-boo on The atroc
ties - inquired to the identical government which
has now furnished subject for Mr. GIadstone's
ind nj una nnaI
that would have required some qualification in
connection with one Of the trades addresses by
Napoleon to Cotenzel, or Lord Whitworth.
And scarcely twelyemonih has elapsed since
the minister who had earned the hatred Of every
despot in Europe by his courageous reproba-
ton Of their misdeeds, fairly put on trial be-
fore Parliament; while no one was more for
ward than Mr.. Gladstone himself in pointing
every attack which seemed 10 open chance Of
our reannexing England to the Absolutist
League, then in progress of formation on the
continent
We are already in position to place that
memorable struggle in its real light, and to d.
vest it Of the trumpery accessories which were
formerly swelled into disproportionate import
ance. Even at the time it was felt that the true
issue concerned not the disposition of haf.a-doz-
en- war Steamers or the value Of Don Paciico's
household furniture, but that we were to decide
whether the weight of England was permanent
ly to be thrown on the side of what was called
order" or on that of humanity and good faith.
There was not a single absolute monarch whose
representative took the trouble to disguise hia
glee at Lord Palmerston's approaching down.
fall, nor Gf we except one or two members of
the Manchester school, in whose conduct person
al considerations, to say the least, very largely
shared) was there any liberal leader, from Ga
germ to Mazzini, who did not declare that the
last chance of fair play for the principles Of free
government would pass away with Lord Palm
erstoIis official reign We freely allow that up
to the very las. moment this convection severely
hampered the effect of our foreign policy and
that other nations had for some time 90 d rea-
son to believe that Lord PaImerston's diploma
cy was only reluctantly endured by the English
public. Day by day We were tainted with Lord
Palmerston's failures, and the party who took
the credit of thwariing him may now console
themselves with Mr.. Gadstone's exposition of
the use to which the King of Naples has put the
free action Jointly secured to him by Mr.. Golden
and Lord Aberdeen.
Nor must we omit to remind the world that it
was favorite device with the apoogists for all
the excuses attributed to the King of Naples.
to plead that Lord Palmersion's demeanor was
sure to make perseverance in any course he
blamed a matter Of national punctiIlio, and that
results immensely more favorable would follow
such coEcIllatlng circumstances as we might
took for from Lord Aberdeen. 1t curiously hap
pens that the absolute failure of TIL, very device
was the proxmate cause for Mr. Gadstone's
publication Of his two letters Trusting, as he
represents himself, in the respectful attention
that Lord Aberdeen would command Mr.. Glad.
stone requested that nobleman to bring the sub
ject matter of his first letter before his f,iends
OF the Neapolltan legation. This application
was fairly taken as proof charge. If the King
OF Naples resisted that he would resist ANYTHING
The remonstrance proceeded from a statesman
whose sympathies for all existing governments
were beyond suspicion; the organ of it's COM
munication was the one Engshman most init
mately identified with the cause of monarchv all
over Europe; it was communicated by private
channels IN order to avoid the possibility of an
noying its object by any offensive notoriety; and
IT was received, we quote from Mr. Gladstone's
words, IN manner that convinced me that
would not be warantable to trust in this case
to the force of mere expostulaton" And while
THIS IS the tone maintained by the agents in this
enormous mass OF human suffering what shah
we say to the party elsewhere which still ex-
tends Its protection to such iniquities! We are
the English press who allied themselves lasa
year to the absoutist crusade, have at last fairly
shaken of any completely with those revolving
Outrages.
But IN other countries, especially in France,
there still exists faction which makes no shame
of exulting in every fresh barbarity inflic ed on
the defeated liberals, and of procaiming TIA
sympathy for even such order" rs is the sv-
nonism for the atrocious terrorism that now
reigns at Naples. Deeply as We regret the tard.
mess with which so many English statesmen
and publicsts were brought to see the truth on
this question, it would be unjust to assoeiat.
them with the writers who persist in shining
against this light and in identifying the pop-
ular party with the purjury and illegality Which.
as lar as we can see, are monopolized by its OBJ
Ponents But now, at least we have full eyi.
dence OF the practices really i'm f,vor with tho
government at Naples, and of the length TO
which the fanatics of royalism are prepared TO
extend Their sympathy. Engi nd already ores
large DEBT 10 Europe FIR her indolent and IN
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