LAST WEEK.
Have the Northern States of the late North American Confederation declared war against the Southern States? Has there been a collision between the Papal Zouaves and a regiment in the service of the French Emperor? Has Messina surrendered to the discretion of Victor Emmanuel’s general? Has a young lady admitted—or is it at last proved, partly by her confession, partly upon corroborative evidence—that she was the murderess of the Road victim? By the time these pages are in the hands of our readers there may be a satisfactory answer to each of these questions; but meanwhile we know, as a question of fact, that Lord Palmerston’s administration, during the last seven days, has been in imminent danger, owing to the dissensions which exist amongst the Liberal party.
The conviction is dawning upon the minds of the chiefs that they were premature when they expressed their opinion so openly in favour of abandoning all attempts to pass a Reform Bill of some kind or another through the two Houses. A party must have a “cry.” Now when you have made abstraction of the clamour for a Reform Bill, what is the band which unites the Liberal party together? It is perfectly true, that the country upon the whole, if not indifferent, is not very eager about the matter. We are far more intent upon Garibaldi and Pio Nono than upon Mr. Locke King’s motion; but, at the same time, it is felt that considerations connected with our foreign policy can never entirely supersede the interest which we all feel in the conduct of our own domestic affairs. For many centuries past the whole tendency of our constitutional arrangements has been to train up a body of men as political gladiators—let the phrase be understood in its most honourable sense—and now we suddenly leave them without employment. These men have been at one moment engaged in fighting the battle of religious liberty—then they struggled for great constitutional changes—finally, for an entire revolution in the commercial system of this country, and of the world. Many of these great Parliamentary champions still survive, and those who have succeeded them are heirs to the traditions of their fame, to their ardour, to their ambition. A moment has arrived when the political chiefs and the directors of public opinion say to them:—“Peace; pause for a while; put aside all constitutional strife; watch the progress of events on the continent of Europe. Support Lord Palmerston, and be very sedulous in committee upon the Bankruptcy Bill.” At first they seemed not altogether indisposed to obey the injunction; but as time has worn on, as continental affairs have not taken the turn of a great catastrophe, they have become uneasy, they fret and chafe under the unwonted restraint. They long once more for the excitement and emotions of Parliamentary warfare. Even if the result is temporary defeat, they had rather be up and be doing than subside into a calm Epicurean indifference. Had the progress of affairs upon the continent of Europe been different—had the Italians taken the Austrian bull prematurely by the horns down yonder to the southward of the Lake of Garda—had the Hungarians burst out into open insurrection, or had the Poles been so imprudent as to anticipate events, it might have been different. In the presence of such overwhelming events our professional politicians might have been content to bide their time, and to adjourn all discussion upon our own constitutional changes, whilst that greater Reform Bill was under the consideration of Europe. This, however, has not been so. In very truth, Europe is casting off her old slough, and the purple rags which represent but the pageantry of former days, far more quickly than if the telegraph brought to us from day to day intelligence of bombarded cities, and hotly-contested fields; but we are not called upon to take any active part in the great drama. Hence the discontent in the Liberal camp, and all this talk about forgotten pledges and forsaken policy. Let us next see what during Last Week have been the actions of our great neighbour.
Louis Napoleon has caused it to be intimated to the Pope, that he disavows all responsibility for the statement made the other day by his cousin, in that famous speech which the Minister of the Interior circulated so rapidly throughout the French Departments. Could any sign more ominous to the Papacy—more significant of a speedy cessation of the French occupation—be conceived? It has been Louis Napoleon’s invariable policy in all such matters to act as each of the authors has done with regard to his contribution towards those Essays and Reviews, the sale of which our Archbishops and Bishops have so highly promoted. He publishes his little Essay with a contribution from La Guéronnière, and a Review by Prince Napoleon, &c., &c. Each writer disclaims complicity with his fellow; but their works are bound up together—are sold together—are read together, and produce a common effect. Each piece of an eight gun battery no doubt might bellow out a claim to independent action, but the result is the same as though they had all been of one mind. Prince Napoleon’s shell has fallen with great precision into the very presence-chamber of the Pope. The Emperor washes his hands, and declares he has nothing to do with it. As we look at these transactions from a distance, we are all declaring that the Papacy is at its last gasp—the same thing might have been said any day since it became clear that Garibaldi’s landing in Sicily did not mean a mere marauding expedition, but the conquest of Two Kingdoms. The Southern section of the Peninsula was even as a matter of opinion the last Harbour of Refuge for the Papacy. As soon as that was closed against the Pope, as a temporal Prince he ceased to exist, save in so far as a foreign—that is a non-Italian nation—might be disposed to maintain his authority for awhile at the bayonet’s point. The question, then, is not what is occurring at Rome just now, but, to a certain extent, what is the state of affairs at Vienna?—above all, what is the state of public opinion in France? This French public opinion is the master of the French Emperor as he is the master of the Pope. It is by careful study of it in all its variations that Louis Napoleon is what