The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1855-03-21
The London Times on the Aris-
tOcracy, February 14th. -'

The London Times on the Aris-
tOcracy, February 14th. Cd"
s.l hi rglnE- Co.. -. ,-gr Et a'
The people of England have remained
quiet under all these things, They have
felt-as how should they not feell-the NOR
tality which has brought mourning to every
hearth. They have noted--as how should
they not note!-the incredible and inexpli-
cable confusion and stupidity which have
presided over every department, giving res
ality to absurdities such as the most extrav-
agant Imagination could never have painted,
and occasioning mseries such as the gloom.
lest prophet could never have foreboded. -
Why the people have been SO long silent
has been to most rejecting men matter Of
wonder and establishment. They feel most
acptely, but they have remained hitherto
passive spectators of the method in which
their best hopes and dearest interests have
been squandered and betrayed. Perhaps
they have cherished hope that at the meet
ing Of Parliament all things would be well.
Perhaps they have been content to read their
sentiments faithfully reflected in tho columns
of the press. Whatever be the cause Of
their silence, that cause exists no longer,
and we have to look for an expression Of
public opinion from one end of this country
to the other, which will convey to our gov
erning classes most clear and ineligible
warning that the patience of the nation is
exhausted, and that the necessity of widen
ing the area from which our Executive is to
be taken is great and paramount. The en-
thusiastic meeting at the town Of Derby has
led the way, and the remaining towns ol
of England will not beslow to fellow. The
cry is for practical statemanship, for opening
a free career to talent, for placing our re-
sources in hands equal to the emergency
The Derby petitioners hold no extravagant
or exaggerated langua ge; they declare their
confidence IN the justice Of the war; they
express their humiliation and regret at the
disasters which have occurred ; they pray
for searching inquiry into their causes
and suggest remedies adequate to the EN- er.
gency which we have to meet. uaai "2in
i While Ministers are debating how to fiji
up the most important offices with the leas
competent persons, and considering tn,
claims Of rank, of family, and of connection
of everything except merit and capacity
while the friends of "rising young states
men" Of the true breed are indefatgably
soliciting their advancement from Office t.
office, the people of England, who care fo
none of these things, are gravely taking tn,
matter into their serious consideration, aat
coming to conclusions but little favorablet, I,
the stability Of the present governing class
es. We have been ready to allow place ant
patronage to be monopolized BY a few fami
lies. We have been content to live in ou
own county, strangers to our own Govern
ment, excluded from the working Of ou
own institutions, but it was only on condi
: tion that our national pride should be re
spected, and our interest and position in tn
great family of nations remain inviolate.-
This our, aristocracy have failed to secure t
US, and therefore the people Of Englan
r will, we hope, demand, in no spirit of will
3 and theoretical leveling, in no spirit of ha
7 tired or animosity to any portion Of the com
: muhity, but in the spirit Of practical reforr
: of an urgent and intolerable grievance, tha
: the system which excludes plebian talsr
: from high Office shall henceforth be discor
t tinued, and that in the army, at tie desl
S and in the council, those men shall be cal
ed to the public services who are best abl
: to serve the public. We wish all success
I to this movement. 1t has been our paint
lot to witness more nearly than others an
: to obtain more ample information as to Ii
> manner in which this war has been conduc
- ed, and we do not hesitate to express Ii
, opinion that, without an entire change
r system, substitution Of youth and enefs
; for age and decrepitude-unless some pls
d can be hit upon by which merit shall be Il
n only criterion in the filling up Of civil al
f. military Offices without, in fact, q compile
~ 3s}9HgAN $50 Ht Il! aTH58}iQ2fG5 10 U@b aAs.J
h abandonment Of the claims of wealth,
r family, and Of interest, in favor Of that hig
is er nobility which the hand Of God has il
le pressed on the forehead Of every man of tS
s. ent, tits vain for US to continue the prese
% contest, and better to accept any condition
howevsrdegrading and however humiliatin
since no degradation and no humiliation 81
fered at the hands Of the enemy can exec
# those which our own seryility and meanne
o have inflicted, and are about to infict, upe
ourselves no.la,A,iaop y13 agg ~