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central power only a defined right of taxation and control? No military chief could attack such an arrangement if once in working order, for each province would be a new centre of resistance and beyond coercion by the Army, even if the Army were kept up. It must not be forgotten that allpowerful as the Army may be while it lasts, its reduction is always easy, the conscripts welcoming a decree which sends them home to their cottages as a delightful release. The first reward decreed by Prim to his soldiery was a shortened term of service. Throughout the history of Spain, in this very movement itself, the tendency has been for the provinces to close in upon the centre, not for the centre to propel motion through the provinces. In France, Paris revolts and the departments follow; but in Spain the departments revolt and Madrid endorses their decree. There may be reasons familiar to Spaniards which render any such experiment dangerous, but it is strange that they produce none. The Juntas, elected as it were by instinct, see no such danger. The great cities do not see it. Catalonia- Scotland of Spain - does

the sort of figure to which even Spaniards | the provinces, in fact, into States, let each bow in reverence, and it is by no means organize its own guard, and leave to the certain that even that figure is attainable. It is difficult to conceive of a Coburg declining a throne, but King Ferdinand seems to have refused one, and apparently without arrière pensée. The Duchess of Montpensier has a party, but the Duchess is as bigoted as her sister, and not half so able. Protestant Princes will hardly be selected, the Orleans family is vetoed by the Emperor of the French, and Spain, if she takes a King at all, must apparently go about begging to some little known German, who probably will not be able to speak Spanish, must place herself at the feet of some ignorant schoolboy whose single recommendation is that the race he springs from is visibly effete. Spanish pride is not gratified at that prospect, and the very difficulty of finding a King drives the thoughts of the people back upon the idea of a Republic. The moment the magical charm is broken and the matter brought to the test of reason, the moment it is seen that human society can exist without kings, that the pyramid will stand without a statue at the top. the democratic idea takes root, the objections begin to disappear, and a Republic is seen to be one of the arrange- not see it; or Aragon, or Biscay. Olozaga ments in which it is possible to acquiesce. himself only says that a Republic would be Acquiescence, dignified with high-sounding premature, and Prim has promised when epithets, is the usual feeling of the multi- the Cortes meets to resign power into its tude in every nation towards its govern- hands. The solitary reason advanced in public for re-establishing the throne is the fear lest a Republic should be unable to protect property; but why should it be unable, any more than a monarchy surrounded by republican institutions? A strong chief is always a source of strength, but what extra power does a lay figure bring to the Cabinet supposed to be sitting under his presidency? If there is a monarch, it is admitted Olozaga will be Premier, and Prim Minister at War; and suppose Olozaga is called Protector, what additional danger to property is there in that?

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It is the custom of Englishmen, who never cordially believe in any form of government but their own, to assume as an axiom that a Republic would not suit Spain, but it is very difficult to perceive a reason for that assumption. A Republic of the French pattern, we admit, might be a very dangerous experiment, for the Presidency would soon be all-powerful, and the Army would probably elect the depositary of power. But the same objection does not exist to a Federal Republic. Spain is, of all countries in the world, the one in which But may there not be a secret reason provincial feeling is strongest, in which compelling the Chiefs of the Revolution to communes, cities, and provinces have re- abstain from proposing a Republic, a threat, tained most fully the habit of separate ac- for example, from the Emperor of the tion. The moment the people are let alone French? That is probable enough, for a they organize provincial and municipal Republic on his frontier would be decidedly juntas or committees by election, and, when inconvenient to Napoleon; but why should elected, obey them very strictly. Their that reason weigh heavily with the people natural and almost irrepressible tendency is of Spain? Napoleon might be and would to appoint a committee for each com- be displeased, but he could not invade the mune, a larger committee for each province, and a central committee for the whole country, adding generally some popular chief as head of the Executive. Why not formulize and restrict that system, change

Peninsula merely to impose on her a form of government which France has herself shaken off. With Prussia waiting the hour, Italy thirsting for Rome, and all Spain in arms for her independence, such an expedi

tion would be an act of madness, even if | brought him pleasure. His speech upon desired by France at large; and there is the subject gave deeper offence to English not the slightest evidence that France is Liberals than even to the Americans, for it anxious to interfere, or has any prejudice suggested that there was at least one subin favour of a government which most ject upon which the moral vision of their Frenchmen condemn as an 66 exceedingly leader, usually so clear, was dimmed by illogical compromise." Invasion is out of prejudice; one corner of his mind in which the question, and short of invasion what his sympathies for the oppressed, usually has Spain to fear beyond the temporary so despotic, were not dominant; one reloss of an 66 influence" in Paris she can very gion of politics in which his foresight, well do without? We doubt if menaces usually so keen, was arrested by some failfrom Paris will weigh heavily with the ure in his mind. He has, we doubt not, Cortes, while they will, if once made audi- since then received light, has perceived not ble to the people, enlist on the side of the only, as he says, the enormous energy naRepublic the well-known pride of the Span- tions derive from extending popular priviish temperament, perhaps produce a burst lege, but the enormous suffering which any of enthusiasm sufficient to make any other compromise with slavery, any tolerance for form of government impossible. We quite that supreme wickedness, brings even upadmit that the masses of Spain are not Re- on States otherwise wisely organized; but publican in any decided sense; that if Olo- he should have taken the opportunity afzaga has a decent candidate for the throne forded him by the banquet to Mr. Reverdy ready, and can bring him into Madrid, and Johnson to announce the change, and clear can obtain any sort of plébiscite in his fa- his political character from its solitary vour, most Spaniards will acquiesce; but stain, to prove that there was no point upif time is allowed to pass, and liberty of on which men who love freedom could respeech continues, and province can hear gard Mr. Disraeli as superior to himself. from province, and city call to city, the He did not do it. He made, indeed, an Cortes may yet decline the humiliating task excellent speech, full of kindness towards Napoleon wishes it to commence; may re- the Union and its representatives, and adfuse to beg to be governed, and begin mitted that the war had taught him much; governing for itself, either as a sovereign but he did not say, what we are certain he Senate, or, better still, as the supreme but fully believes, that the war proved to a limited head of many representative bodies. demonstration the great truth that no free No Englishman can venture to predict the state can in this generation be based on course of Spanish events, but it is becoming human slavery, that the system is, in his clear even to Englishmen that the policy of own words, about a much milder servitude, delay is by no means favourable to the "a deliberate negation of God." It is cause of constitutional monarchy. The ab- conceivable that his reticence may have sence of a fitting candidate may, of course, proceeded from an exaggerated courtesy only tend to secure the election of a Span- towards Mr. Reverdy Johnson as a Maryiard, but it is much more likely to embolden lander, or from a mere reluctance to enter the cities to demand a federation, and it is at such a banquet upon a personal topic; the cities, and not the villages, which im- but it has disappointed, not to say woundpose their will in revolutionary times. ed, some of his best supporters, and we shall be delighted to find that before the election comes on the ill-timed silence has been amply explained. Even had slavery not been in question, Mr. Gladstone's false estimate of American forces would have been a blunder; but it was one committed by politicians as sagacious as himself, by one, for example, as coldly watchful as the Emperor of the French. No apology was needful for a error so widely spread, but sympathy with slavery is a mental taint of which a leader almost worshipped by English Liberals, and worshipped for the sincerity of his belief in freedom and in man, ought to avow himself wholly free.

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From The Spectator, 24 Oct.
MR. GLADSTONE ON AMERICA.

MR. GLADSTONE missed a great opportunity on Thursday. The single incident in his career which his followers would gladly forget, and which every now and then suggests a doubt whether his Liberalism is world-wide, is the attitude he assumed towards the Southern rebellion. He believed that it would succeed, that a slave empire could be founded, that it was possible to elevate a caste of slaveholders into a nation, that in fact, as he said, the work had been accomplished, and he expressed his belief as if in some way it

For the rest, the banquet was a success. Liverpool would much rather the South had won, but the dinner was free from all

trace of that feeling, even Mr. Laird, to the opportunity for an acquisition of Cuba. whose conduct the discord between Amer- The Republicans, on their part, deprecate ica and England is mainly due, maintaining that course decidedly. They brand the filia judicious silence. Mr. Johnson dwelt a bustering proposition, such as it has cropped little too emphatically perhaps upon the up in some Southern journals, as an infacommon origin, language, literature, and mous one; and they will not hear of an anso on, which did not prevent South and nexation of the island by purchase. All North from hating one another very hearti- they contend for is, that the Union ought to ly, and hitting one another very hard; but enter into the most friendly intercourse with Lord Stanley displayed a genuine anxiety the Provisional Government of Spain, so to reconcile the two countries, and it is that its voice might make itself heard effecpleasant to hear officially that of three sub- tually in favour of an entire and immediate jects in dispute two have been arranged, abolition of that cruel system of human bonand the third may be settled within the dage which has hitherto disgraced Spanish next few weeks. The dispute about the dominion in the " Pearl of the Antilles." right to St. Juan, which most Englishmen The fact of those malcontents in Cuba have forgotten, but which, like all boun- who aim at the overthrow of the Spanish dary disputes, was very dangerous, is hap- yoke having hitherto remained quiet, may pily at an end; and the supposed vari- appear a strange one, seeing that the island ance as to the right of citizens to transfer is honeycombed by secret associations, estheir allegiance never existed at all. Eng-pecially on its southern side. There are, lishmen and Americans are unanimously however, it seems, a number of such socieagreed upon the matter, and their judgment needs only a formal registration. Nothing remains except to settle the penalty to be inflicted on this country by Mr. Laird, and even upon this Mr. Johnson hoped negotiation would go on merrily, and Lord Stanley hinted that a result might be attained before he quitted power. A perfectly satisfactory result is, of course, hopeless, for Mr. Laird cannot be fined in the amount of damage inflicted by the Alabama; but any result which would close the sore without tarnishing the national honour would be acceptable alike to this country and the Union; and the electors of Birkenhead have it in their power to supplement the failures of the law. Indeed, even if they do not, Mr. Laird is almost sufficiently punished by that irony of circumstance which made him, so proud as he was of the Alabama, a guest at a banquet given to the representative of the power he had tried to crush, an eager listener to the speech in which a British Minister claimed as his highest credit, his pleasantest reward, to have cured one part of the evil caused by the achievements of that ship. The Member for Birkenhead, we may be sure, did not join in the laughter with which the audience, as Mr. Johnson cleverly avoided naming the "Alabama claims," expressed their appreciation at once of his courtesy in victory, and of the grim humour of the scene.

From The Examiner, 24 Oct.
CUBA AND THE UNITED STATES.

WHILST Spain is involved in revolution, a powerful party in the United States is strongly urging President Johnson to seize

ties with very different tendencies, antagonistic to each other; and this may partly account for the present outward calm. There are those who aim simply at independence, and there are those who have a junction with the United States in view-under the condition, of course, or, at least, in the secret hope, that the "peculiar institution" of the South would be revived one day in some form or other. There is the Creole party, moreover, with its jealousy of the full-bred Spaniard; and there is the slave element, in which ideas of emancipation have become rife. Thus there exists a perfect maze of cross purposes, a circumstance so far favourable to the continuation of Spanish rule, inasmuch as the malcontents are ill-assorted amongst themselves. Besides, the revolution in the mother country has evidently taken them by surprise. They were certainly not initiated into the secret beforehand, and so they find themselves at present somewhat out of their reckoning.

A few figures, referring to the population of Cuba, and the neighbouring isle of Porto Rico, may here be of use. According to the census of 1861, there were in the former island 793,484 whites (including creoles, i. e., descendants of Spanish or other European immigrants, and real Spaniards), 232,493 mulattoes, or emancipated slaves, and 370,553 negro slaves. There is consequently a coloured population, either freed or still enslaved, which comes close up to the number of whites. In Porto Rico there were counted, in 1861, 300,406 whites, 241, 037 free coloured people, and 41,738 slaves. It is doubted, however, by some of the best statisticians, whether the number of slaves is not in this case understated. At any rate,

in Porto Rico also, the coloured and the white population nearly balance each other. From this it is easily seen that, taking matters on an average, a liberal emancipation policy would rather be calculated to strengthen Spanish dominion. The Creoles, it ought to be known, are the very element in which projects of severance have hitherto been rife. In the main, it is therefore only among a small section of liberal-thinking whites, and in the mass of the blacks, that Spain can hope to keep her footing. Hence, emancipation presents itself as a natural issue from unquestionable difficulties.

policy to launch the nation into enterprises abroad, so as to distract it from the regular course of improvement at home. It is the Cæsarean policy, under slightly altered circumstances. The Republicans protest against a reckless, inconsiderate extension of the boundaries of the Union. They have no desire to hasten on, by violent or questionable means, that junction of the Canadas to the United States which they believe will, in course of time, be accomplished by the free choice of the people. They have no desire to see Mexico absorbed by the Union, the Mexicans and the mass of the North American people being as unlike as the inhabitants of two conterminous countries well can be.

It is well worth while to dwell, on this occasion, for a moment longer on the difference in the altitude of the Democrats and the Republicans of America, whenever a With regard to Cuba, the Republicans question of territorial acquisition comes up. fully acknowledge the advantages that might The Democrats are for extension every-result from its annexation in a commercial where, and in every direction-they are sense; but they earnestly deprecate, notalike anxious for the annexation of Canada, withstanding, its acquisition under present Mexico, and Cuba. It is a part of their circumstances.

LORD BROUGHAM AS A WRITER.- Brougham was so various and omnific a man, that merely to touch upon the chief characteristics of his eminence is quite impossible. Few men, indeed, who have led so active a life, who have stood so prominently forward at the head of great national affairs, have possessed a reputation so entirely separated and distinct from the more prominent portions of their fame; but through all departments it was the useful which especially claimed and captivated his attention. He was eminently a child of the understanding; his intellect was built up from the things which are seen. His creed upon things of the mind and of human nature would probably be very much such a one as Lord Macaulay would have sketched. Indifferent to the powers and graces of poetry he could not altogether have been; but with the new races and schools of poets and poetry, we suppose, he had no sympathy. We believe he was never reconciled to Byron; if Jeffrey ever needed urging to renewed hostility to the schools of Wordsworth and Coleridge, he no doubt found a hearty backer in Brougham; and when Carlyle began to contribute to the Edinburgh those magnificent papers which completely set aside some of its preceding verdicts on Burns, on Richter, and on German Literature, Brougham is reported to have said, "I declare to you, if you allow that man to write another paper, I'll write for you no more." Brougham belonged to an order of men having little sympathy with, and not disposed to place among the subjects of their close acquaintance and intimate knowledge, the transcendentalisms either of metaphysics, poetry, or science. A man's training usually fixes the poles of his mind, even when it is boldly original, and when it is yet unable entirely to dominate his whole character; and the schools of Scotland, St. Andrew and Edinburgh, when Brougham was a youth, would not prepare his intelligence for much appreciation of that large new realm which

seems to have been laid bare to more of the speculative by the teachings of Kant, Fichte, Hegel, and Cousin; in our own country we may add Coleridge and Carlyle. Following, however, in the discipline to which his mind had been accustomed, and which indeed was in harmony with all the labours of his life, his practical, sagacious, and legal intelligence, he devoted himself to the cultivation of the visible, the tangible, the useful. The same spirit which animated him in his intercourse with such men as Bentham and Romiley influenced his studies when he left the more public walk, or when that public walk became comparatively a secluded one, separated from the noisy highway of politics, and reserved for the feet of those who desired even more to see the human mind informed than the powers of class privilege broken; hence his work in con nection with mechanics' institutes, which were to him and to his idea something more resembling what we now know as the people's college, than that great misnomered thing the mechanics' institute has usually become; then his work in connection with the Society for the Promotion of Useful Knowledge, which long squibs were wont to satirize as the Society for the Promotion of Use less Knowledge. Aided by him, the first cheap pe riodicals were launched; and multitudes of those delightful volumes were published which first ununrolled in a cheap form the ample page of knowl edge to the comparatively poor. His delightful essay on the " Objects, Advantages, and Pleas ures of Science," written in the pressure and crowd of multitudinous affairs, was one of the first and most earnest words addressed to the people, inviting them to a knowledge of those great subjects, which, while they entertain, instruct, and, while they lift the mind above the merely sensual, admit it into the knowledge of the durable, the knowledge of itself, and of beings like itself— not of clay-the beings of the mind.

Eclectic and Congregational Review.

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To CHRISTIAN GOTTFRIED EHRENBERG, . 578 | I'LL SING YOU A SONG, MY Love, .

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