The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-02-15

painfully formed; and formed, too, with re-
ference to high standard Of political
morality. But, notwithstanding those
merits, Lord Russell's conception of
his functions as Foreign Secretary was radi-
cally wrong The place he seems to have as
signed himself was that of an international
journalist. just as newspaper writer makes
it his business to critioise the conduct of
public men and their management of public
affairs, Lord Russell made it his business to
give his opinion upon the acts of foreign Gov
ernments without troubling himself to con-
slider whether he had any call or even any
light to express il. 'T do not believe" he
says, ''that any English Foreign Minister who
does his duty faithfully by his own country
can in difficult circumstances escape the blame
of foreign statesmen. When two
parties are engaged in violent con-
test against each other, and are both partly
in the wrong" no one who is impartial can
''expect to please both htigants." 1t will be
seen that underneath this resignation to in
evitable failure lies the assumption that in
the circumstances described it was incum-
bent upon the English Government to say
something. 1t had to persuade, or remon-
strate, or offer advice; the one course which
was not open to it was to remain silent. ''To
be just, says Lord Russell, sis the first duty
of Government in foreign rs we'll as in do
mestic affairs" That it is its duty to pass
Judgment in some way he takes for granted.
When we turn to the particular questions
which presented themselves during Lord
Russell's tenancy Of the Foreign Office, we see
the same postulate implied in his treatment
of all of them. The first inquiry
that suggested itself to his mind
was never ''Shall 1 speak 2" but always
''What ought to say?" AS we have said, his
answer to this second question was the result
OF an honest effort to hold the balance even.
In Lord Russell's mind the palatableness of
despatch was a very secondary considera-
ton. He was prominently what would be
called in evangelical language an awakening"
minister. Unfortunately, the Governments
with whom he had to correspond were little
accustomed to admonitions written in this
earnest style. Continental diplomatists do
not often proffer advice or warning about
matters which do not concern them. We may
get some idea of the light in which Lord Rus
sell must have appeared to Prince Gortscha-
kotf or Count Rechberg by imagining Lord
Clarendon's feelings if the Russian or Aus
trian Governments were to favor him with
their opinion on the working of the Irish
Church Act or with hints for the Irish Land
Bill. 1t was thought strange the other day
when the Emperor Napoleon spoke of Eng
land as doing justice to Ireland; but there is
hardly power in Europe which Lord Rus
sell did not praise for doing justice, or chide
for doing injustice, between 1859 and 1865
1t never seems to have entered his head that
these comments might excite hopes or fears
which his subsequent action would not justify
A journalists duties do not include the gift of
material aid to those whose cause he espouses
or the infiction of material penalties on those
whose conduct he condemns.
There is another feature of Lord Russell's
diplomacy which recalls the newspaper article.
Those who write on current politics are often
apt to make their premises wider than their
conclusions. They determine what shall be
the aim of their remarks, and then they throw
in general principle or two just to add dig
nifty to the particular recommendation. Lord
Russell framed his dispatches in much the
same way. To give decision without stating
his reasons, or to give the special reasons ap-
plicable to the case he had to decide on with
out connecting them with wider considera-
tions, never satisfied him. Had he contented
himself with the strict exercise of his func-
tions as minister, without passing into those
of the moralist and lawgiver, his dispatches
would have been less mischievous though less
literary. But Lord RusselIs passion for
generalization led him to refer each of his
acts to some universal law by which he sup
posed it to be governed 1t is no wonder,
therefore, that the English Government
was supposed to have pledged itself to O
| far more complete and coherent policy than
| Lord Russell at all intended to adopt. A con-
! spicuous instance of this is his answer to M
Thouvenels proposal, in July, 1860, that the
commanders of the French and English fleets
| In the Mediterranean should be authorized to
declare to General Garibaldi that they haG
orders to prevent him from crossing from
Sicily to the Neapolitan mainland. Lore
Russell might have declined to join in sucl
an intimation, either on the ground that ht
would do nothing to keep Francis III on the
throne, or on the ground that, as Great Bri
tain had sympathized with the italian revolu
ton, she could not consistently oppose an
expedition which she held to be al
integral part of it, Instead of this, Lore
Russell set to work to construct a theory which
should cover all possible cases of the kind
He Uniformed M. de Persigny that
if the navy, army, and people of Naples were
attached to the King, Garibaldi would be de
feated; if, on the contrary, they were dis
posed to welcome Garibaldi, our interference
would be an interference. in the interna
affairs of the Neapoltan kingdom. y
The Neapolitans ought to be the masters
either to reject or to receive Garibaldi
Stated in these general terms, Lord RUSSELL
doctrine would involve acquiescence in an
considerable filibustering expedition tina
might be devised. 1t is applicable to an in
vasion of Belgium by French general, or
Turkey by Russian general, acting withou
the authority but with the consent of the
respective Governments II is nothing les
than q disclaimer of all share in internationi
police-an announcement that, SO far as Enl
land is concerned, an adventurer who choose
to disturb the peace of Europe will only hay
to calculate, when he sits down to count I'll
cost, what reception he may expect from ii
| inhabitants of the particular territory