, 1875-08-14

ever to exert the full political force 40
d~lplomatlst to which his i~ntellect and
character entitle him. It is not fine and
~scrupulous calculation which really exer-
clses the greatest moral influence in this
practical world. In the domain of science
you must be exact. You must measure
out your weights by the most delicate
fractions of a grain, and it is only the
bungler who uses twice as much
power as he needs for the purpose of
his experiment. But 10 politics it
is not so Tnere, there is always q great
deaf OF latent power to overcome which
is never expressed in words, and the
statesman who takes exact measure of all
which shows itself openly, and of no more,
aud who is careful to adapt his comments
precisely to the display of pc yer he has &C.
tually seen, will seldom be a great factor in
European aflirs. That which appears to
be waste of power in politics is often not
waste at all. Look at Prince Bismarck.
Note the su%perauity OF power which he
rains out from him on every side when he
is preparing for a great move. No doubt
what he wants to do, and what Lord
Derby wants to do, are very. different
things. Prince Bismarck has more than
once intended to sweep aside all the exist
ing conditions of European equilibrium
and to substitute quite new ones. Lord
Derby has never yet wished to do more
than to discourage as far as possible any
great and abrupt change. Of course q
display of overweening political vigour 10
much more appropriate for the one purpose
than for the other. But we maintain that
for either purpose a good deal more show
OF force is needful than would exactly
neutralise all the Visible tendencies which
are to be overcome. Prince Bismarck
knows this, and becomes a perfect volca-
no Of seemingly superfuous diplomatic
force, whenever he is really preparing for
a great step. Lord Derby, on the contra
ry, though his role is a very different one,
and quite rightly q much more quiet one,
though it is not his appropriate work to
roll great weights down the inclined plane
of the European situation, but to put
forth all the resistance he can to prevent
the descent of those weights, hardly sees
sufficiently that the man who only adapts
the force he uses to the resistance he
discerns, is, in these matters, very apt to
use far too little force for his ultimate
pun pOSG' III Gu6 rOuSu WULlu Va PVAUANSe
the forces to be actually met almost always
defy measurement, and are very often, in-
deed, much larger than they seem. Lord
Derby's good sense, like most mems good
sense, is a great minimlser of perverse in
t%entions. He cannot see how a reasonable
person could desire to do this or that, and
hence he supposes not indeed that he does
net wish to do it, but that his unreasona-
BILE wish to do it must be comparatively
feeble and will be easily overpowered.
In this Belgian case we would not have
had Lord Derby buster Indeed, Of
clustering he is incapable. But we should
have liked to find him indicating pretty
plainly a very strong determination to
defend liberty of opinion among our weak
er allies, if it should ever be attacked.
He was wise enough in making light ofthe
actual words of the German despatch.
But he would havei done better to use
much stronger language than he did in re-
alton to any serious attempt, if such az
attempt should ever be made, to ~terrorise
a weak State and ally of England into
silence. Political friction is a very valua-
BILE regulative force, but something more
than political friction is needed to neutralise
the moral pressure of great nations in the
first flush of their collective enthusiasm,
IL AZ C.L @II. - LII. :nn~:G1