From The Saturday Review. THE FRENCH LIBERALS AND THE PLEBIS 8 66 CITE. THAT section of French Liberals which still believes, or makes believe, in the Parliamentary Empire naturally dwells with much satisfaction on the difference in the numbers of the Opposition in June, 1869, and May, 1870. In the former year 3,362,580 votes were given against the Government, in the latter only 1,560,706. In Paris the returns tell the same tale. In 1869 the Opposition votes amounted to 229,123; in 1870 they have fallen to 184,246. The moral drawn from this comparison of course is that the majority of the Liberal party have accepted the plébiscite in the sense of consecration" of the Liberal Empire. We should attach more weight to this inference if there was anything to show that it is the inference drawn by Napoleon III. If he bad meant the plébiscite to be so regarded, and knew that as a matter of fact it had been so regarded, the results of the voting would be sufficiently decisive. Instead of this he has all along treated the late appeal to the people as designed to extract a fresh vote of confidence in himself. The language of his proclamation was utterly incompatible with any other interpretation, and this interpretation is fatal to the version of the event which is in favour with the Liberals of whom we are speaking. The sense in which the Emperor will accept a favourable answer to his appeal will be the sense in which he meant that the appeal itself should be understood. If the Noes to the plébiscite had been as numerous as the votes given to the Opposition candidates last year, be would have been forced to understand that the Liberals of France are still resolute in their repudiation of Personal government. His deduction from the actual nunders will be the direct contrary of this. He will argue with perfect truth that the majority of them have accepted the apparent compromise with which he has been pleased to amuse them, and are content to see Parliamentary legislation ratified by an act which is destructive of Parliamentary authority. The Republicans were aga him in 1869, and they are against him in 1870. Of that fact he has been awa. all along, and so long as it stands alone he can pretty well measure its significance. The terrors of the election of 1869 were due to the unexpected disclosure that the whole Liberal party had made common cause with the Republicans, and had shown for the first time a common front against the official candidates. From that day the Imperial policy has been ingenious VOL. XVII. 776 LIVING AGE. and consistent. It has aimed first at re placing the Opposition in the old position of a house divided against itself, and, secondly, at restricting the concessions necessary for this object within the limits of Personal government. By the active assistance of M. Ollivier, and the passive assistance of those numerous Liberals whose fear of disorder is greater than their love of liberty, the design has for the time succeeded. Napoleon III. is still the absolute sovereign of France, and the active opposition to his Government is once more identified with the avowed enemies of his dynasty. The advantages the Emperor must be supposed to see in this result will not be easily discerned by unbiassed observers. The extreme section of the Liberals are morally strengthened by the unexpected overthrow of Parliamentary government just at the moment when it seemed to have made good its victory. They have preached from the beginning that no trust can be placed in Napoleon III. Their disbelief in him had not been removed by the concessions which induced the rest of the party to abandon their attitude of hostility, and finally to accept office at his hands. But though it had not been removed it had been shaken, and there began to be signs that the Left might shortly break up, one part of it giving a general support to the Ollivier-Daru Cabinet, the other part avowing that in their eyes Parliamentary government was no less hateful than Personal. Now this disintegrating process is more than checked. The event has fully justified the original incredulity of the Republican minority, and they may claim credit for superior foresight and a truer instinct in holding aloof from all active participation in the pretended transformation of the Empire into a Constitutional Monarchy. The Left is again united, and united on the basis of the proved incompatibility of the Napoleonic Empire with liberty in any form. But it may easily turn out that it is strengthened as well as united. The Liberals who have been betrayed will by and by recover from the stupor into which the plébiscite has thrown them, and will begin to form new combinations in the country and the Corps Législatif. Some of them may possibly be won over to the Republic as the best government for France, while Republicanismi regarded simply as an anti-dynastic movement can hardly fail to be the gainer. The partisans of Constitu tional Monarchy cannot form any permanent alliance with the partisans of a Democratic Republic, but they may prudently make common cause with them for a time. They have one point upon which they agree can only be explained on the theory we have more than once insisted on - that Napoleon II. is too profound a disbeliever in constitutional sovereignty to care about seeing either himself or his son in the position of constitutional sovereign. -the impossibility of Napoleon III. becoming anything different from what he has been since the coup d'état; and, though this agreement may not carry them very far, it may give birth before it is dissolved to practical consequences of no little importance. That France shall have an opportunity of deciding how she will be ruled, without the incubus of the Empire being there to deter-it mine the decision beforehand, may be equally desired by men who cherish very different hopes as to the use to which the opportunity will be turned. Before the plébiscite the Parliamentary Liberals had ceased to wish for any such opportunity. The Empire seemed to be fast becoming all that they could wish to see it, and if the material force it exercised could be used for constitutional liberty instead of against it, they were far from unwilling to profit by its aid. If the cause which they had hitherto identified with the family of Orleans could be better served by the conversion of the Emperor than by his dethronement, to hold any longer aloof from public life would have been to subordinate the victory of political principle to the maintenance of a political party. These doubtless were the considerations which led Count Daru and M. Buffet to take office in the late Cabinet, and it is obvious that if they had been able to take the same view of their duty for the remainder of the Emperor's reign, they would have been bound to his son alike by honour and interest. There would have been a tacit understanding that Napoleon III. had consented to become a constitutional sovereign in order to ensure the recognition of Napoleon IV. in the same capacity, while the necessary dependence of a young Emperor on the advisers bequeathed to him by his father would have enabled them to remedy any defects in the Constitution which had survived the surrender of 1869. Whatever support the succession of the Prince Imperial might have derived from this source has now been thrown away. There is not a consistent Liberal in the country who will be bound or inclined to further it. The one way in which such a succession could have been peaceably secured would have been the growth of a conviction on the part of the moderate Liberals that everything they really cared for had been obtained, and that the conduct of affairs being already in the right hands, the best thing that could be done was to leave it there. In finally alienating the Parliamentary Liberals from the Empire, the Emperor has thrown away his son's prospects in order to retain his own personal power. In a man whose dynastic ambition is so pronounced, such conducti That the alienation of the Parliamentary Liberals is as complete as we have assumed to be may perhaps be contested. In that case we can but point to the recent Ministerial changes. The only perceptible differ ence between the Cabinet as it is and as it was in the days of avowed Personal govern ment is that there has been a marked loss of administrative ability. MM. Rouher and de Forcade la Roquette may have been only clerks, but at all events they were first-class clerks. With the single exception of M. Ollivier, the present Ministers can claim no such praise, and they certainly have no political merits to counterbalance their personal insignificance. They will be as much the obedient tools of M. Ollivier as M. Ollivier himself is the obedient tool of the Emperor. It pleases the Imperial fancy to bid his subjects play at Ministerial responsibility and Parliamentary institutions, and Napoleon III. has taken care to surround himself with servants who, whether from subservience or from simplicity, can be trusted to carry out the jest. It is impossible to regard this second triumph of Bonapartism over liberty as anything less than a great calamity to France and Europe. The transformation of the Empire seemed to offer a fair prospect of putting an end to that series of revolutions which it has been the fate of France to undergo since 1789. If, on the death of the Emperor, the Prince Imperial could have had the united support of the Imperialists and the Parliamentary Liberals, the Republican party might have declined the unequal contest, and contented themselves with looking forward to a future which every year of freedom and order would have tended to make more remote. As it is, the death of Napoleon threatens to plunge France into wild confusion. The Bonapartists, the Parliamentary Liberals, the Republicans, will all have their several plans; and though the two latter may for a time be found acting in a sort of provisional union, the truce can be but of short duration, and their triumph over the common enemy would inevitably be the signal for its dissolution. Such are the miserable results of the vanity and finesse of one man. If ever a mother had reason to curse the day on which her child was born, it is the unfor tunate country which brought forth M. Emile Ollivier. From The Saturday Review. farmers are sometimes biassed by considerations of fear, or more often of hope, bearIr was perfectly understood that the ap- ing on their relation to their landlords. It pointment of a Committee on Parliamentary is unhappily true that property and station and Municipal Elections was intended to have not been altogether inoperative on facilitate the transition or official adhesion English elections. In the last Parliament, of the Government to the Ballot. Mr. Lord Hartington and three other members Bruce had, with that extraordinary innocence of the great family to which he belongs repwhich characterizes proselytes, been con- resented counties or divisions of counties. vinced by his defeat at Merthyr Tydvil of They were all useful and accomplished mema necessity for change which had not been bers of the House of Commons, but it may impressed on his understanding by any ex-perhaps have occurred to Lord Hartington traneous testimony of bribery or intimida- that it would have been a remarkable cointion. Mr. Gladstone underwent a different cidence if three sons and a brother of a process of conversion, becoming simulta-powerful nobleman had been selected excluneously aware that the electors ought to sively for their personal merits. If the Balconceal their votes, and that widowers lot substitutes higher motives for the modes should be permitted to marry the sisters of of influence which it will repress, the protheir deceased wives. In these as in similar posed change will of course be justifiable, cases the adoption of a new faith is due to and it may perhaps be beneficial; but it is other causes than inquiry or logical deduc- possible that a farmer who has voted for a tion. Mr. Gladstone and the section of his good candidate to please his landlord may colleagues which had formerly professed henceforth vote for a bad candidate to please Whig opinions found it natural and conve- himself. The representative system in Engnient to conform to the doctrines held by land was long anterior in time to any theory the active majority of the party. Mr. Glad-about representation. Alone among ancient stone himself is perhaps more open to ex- and modern institutions it has both estabtreme or revolutionary suggestions than the bulk of his followers; and he is naturally inclined to discard any exceptional relics of Conservative prejudice. It is incredible that politicians long accustomed to Parliament and to public affairs should have discovered any theoretical arguments for secret voting with which they had not long been familiar. The controversy has for an entire generation been conducted with conventional reticence, by disputants who perfectly understood that they were respectively con-ciety and with the state of public opinion. tending for the promotion or for the dis- Some of them, including bribery and threats, couragement of democratic influence. Since have been definitively condemned, and of the last Reform Bill, which enormously in- the remainder, which are to be extirpated creased the power of the poorer classes, the by the Ballot, all are perhaps not wholly educated minority has had less to fight for, bad. The deference of the poorer to the although its remaining share in the control richer classes was not altogether disinterestof elections may have become proportion-ed, but it tended to the security of property. ally more valuable as it was reduced in It is not inconceivable that votes exempt amount. The adoption of the Ballot will from all external influence may nevertheless exclude the Conservatives and the moderate be given for selfish reasons. Liberals from numerous seats, although here and there it may deprive demagogues and Mr. Leatham as to the machinery of of any advantage which they derive from secret voting is of the smallest possible inriots. Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Bruce, and terest. If one contrivance fails, nothing Lord Hartington, whatever reasons for their can be easier than to substitute another by change of opinion they may present to them- an expenditure of ingenuity which would be selves or to the House of Commons, have thought trifling by any clever mechanist. in substance conformed to the Ballot be- Parliament has every right to legislate on cause they have made up their minds to ally the assumption that an impenetrable ballotthemselves without reserve to the advanced box or voting-paper may easily be devised, section of the Liberal party. The investi- and candid opponents of the change ought gations of the Committee have convinced further to admit that it will effect many of Lord Hartington and others that tenant- the objects for which it is designed. The lished and secured freedom, and it has accomplished the still more difficult task of conferring power on persons of conspicuous ability. It is but idle pedantry to deduce arbitrary propositions and maxims from the experience of Parliamentary government, and then conversely to remodel practice into accordance with abstract doctrines. The nature of the complicated kinds of influence which may affect voters has varied from time to time with the condition of so The dispute between Lord Hartington Ballot will almost destroy intimidation, and it will render bribery on the whole more troublesome and inconvenient, although it may perhaps facilitate some special forms of corruption. The ingenious administrator who disposed of the patronage of the Town Council and the Parliamentry representation of Beverley would have welcomed the additional demand on his energies which would have been supplied by the Ballot. Bridgewater also would not have been easily induced to dispense with the purchase of votes; but ordinary constituencies and commonplace agents will shrink from the risk of buying goods which may perhaps never be delivered. The electoral history of Beverley and Bridgewater is ended, and Norwich may possibly become pure. It is doubtful whether the Ballot will diminish the corruption of Irish boroughs, but it may sometimes baffle the priests and the mobs, as it will certainly disarm the landlords. If Irish voters betray the secret which the Ballot is intended to secure, they will not be believed. In England a large portion of the electors will disclaim all pretension to conceal their votes, and Lord Hartington hopes that eventually elections, although officially secret, will be virtually public. It is not improbable that when the habit of deferring to landlords or social superiors has once been effectually broken through, the independence which will have been achieved will be ostentatiously displayed. In the United States no man takes the trouble to keep his vote secret; and it is remarkable that in a country where political vituperation is practised with unbounded license, political enemies never charge one another with the crime of having taken advantage of the Ballot to betray their party. Almost the only important result which is not anticipated from the change is an improvement in the character of the House of Commons. The Americans care little or nothing for the fitness of representatives who have, except in times of extraordinary agitation, no important share in the government of the country. It may be permitted to doubt whether England can afford to allow the House of Commons to sink to the level of the House of Representatives. It is often assumed that the abolition of illicit influence will render elections purer; and it is impossible to deny that something is gained by the discontinuance of positive crime; but the unbought choice of a man who would have sold his vote for half-a-crown, if a purchaser had been forthcoming, is not an entirely satisfactory guarantee of the qualifications of a candidate. The Ballot, combined with the late increase of the constituency and the consequent alteration of its character, will gradually tend to transfer the choice of members to professional managers of elections. As in the United States, the Committee or Club of the party will be courted in place of the constituency; and it will occasionally be bought. It may be true that boroughs and counties have not been sufficiently careful in the selection of competent representatives; but in the majority of cases they have insisted on the possession of some kind of distinction, sometimes of ability or eminence, frequently of rank, and most often of property. Managing Committees will be absolutely indifferent to capacity or attainments; but it is possible that they may retain a wholesome respect for money. Any kind of member is better than an obscure and penniless adventurer. As secret voting will certainly be introduced, it matters little whether the Bill passes this year or next. When the Ballot is established some interval may perhaps be allowed before further attempts are made to tinker the electoral system. Sooner or later the numerical majority will complete and perpetuate the supremacy which was conferred by Mr. Disraeli, and which Lord Hartington proposes to extend: Future historians will record the issue of experiments which may perhaps lead to unexpected results. Suffrage will be universal, and if electors care to conceal their votes, it will be secret; but with the inequalities and anomalies which are to be finally abolished, Parliamentary government may possibly disappear. The English nation will never allow itself to be governed by an Assembly of which the several members have ceased to command respect; and yet, in default of the boundless extent of land which relieves American society from a dangerous pressure, the country must be governed. The Continent of Europe is ruled by the army and by the permanent Civil Service, though it constantly struggles to relieve itself of the burden; and several English writers have lately advocated the substitution of head clerks for Parliamentary Ministers. It is possible that a democratic Parliament may feel it necessary to divest itself of all but nominal sovereignty; but it is perhaps scarcely worth while to speculate on the unknown future. Moderate and intelligent politicians will perhaps endeavour to persuade themselves that, after life-long opposition to the Ballot, they have reconsidered opinions which have in fact only been overruled by circumstances. Lord Hartington, as one of the latest converts, has perfectly reconciled himself to the symbols of his From The Academy. POEMS BY DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI.* novel creed, and in some degree his per-poetic life given them by passion, and resonal position explains his easy convic- fuses to have to do with any invisible things tion. One of the most humorous charac- that in the wide scope of its imagination ters in Mr. Disraeli's late novelis the heir cannot be made perfectly distinct and poetto a dukedom who professes a belief in the ically real. Of all turns of mind this must universal equality of all classes under the be the fittest to give the concentration and degree of a duke. Lord Hartington may intensity necessary for lyrical works, and perhaps half consciously think that the the corresponding patience and untiring enemancipation of farmers from the domina- ergy to carry them out: nothing but this tion of squires will not interfere with the could have given us the magnificent collecallegiance of either class to the august su- tion of sonnets at the end of this volume, periors of both. which, though there are some among upwards of eighty that are not free from obscurity, the besetting vice of sonnets, are nevertheless unexampled in the English language since Shakespeare's for depth of thought, and skill and felicity of execution. A mediocre sonnet is more hateful to gods and men than any other versified mediocrity, a crabbed one is harder to read than any other form of crabbed verse; and complete success is not common even when the thought is not over deep; but to express some deep piece of thought or feeling completely and with beauty in the narrow limits of fourteen lines, and in such a way that no line should be useless or barren of some reflex of the main idea; to leave the due impression of the whole thought on the mind by the weight and beauty of the ending; and to do all this without losing simplicity, without affectation of any kind, and with exquisite choiceness of diction and rhyme, is as surely a very great achievement, and among the things most worth doing, as it is exceedingly rare to find done. But few of these sonnets fall short of this highest standard; and they seem withal the most natural and purest expression of the peculiar mysticism spoken of above. poems are to be named here, as having in them much of the feeling of the strongest of the sonnets, with a sweetness and simplicity of their own, "A Little While," and TEN years ago with the publication of his beautiful and scholarly volume of translations from the early Italian poets, Mr. Rossetti announced the preparation of a volume of original poems. This book, so eagerly looked for by those who knew the author by his great works in painting, has now been given to the public; nor is it easy to exaggerate the value and importance of that gift, for the book is complete and satisfactory from end to end; and in spite of the intimate connection between one art and another, it is certainly to be wondered at, that a master in the supremely difficult art of painting should have qualities which enable him to deal with the other supremely difficult one of poetry: and to do this not only with the utmost depth of feeling and thought, but also with the most complete and unfaltering mastery over its material; that he should find in its limitations and special conditions, not stumbling-blocks or fetters, but just so many pleasures, so much whetting of invention and imagination. In no poems is the spontaneous and habitual interpenetration of matter and manner, which is the essence of poetry, more complete than in these. An original and subtle beauty of execution expresses the deep mysticism of thought, which in some form and degree is not wanting certainly to any poets of the modern school, but which in Mr. Rossetti's work is both great in degree and passionate in kind; nor in him has it any tendency to lose itself amid allegory or abstractions; indeed, instead of turning human life into symbols of things vague and not understood, it rather gives to the very symbols the personal life and variety of mankind. poem in this book is without the circle of this realizing mysticism, which deals won deringly with all real things that can have 66 Two The Sea Limits; " the completeness with which the thought is grasped, amid its delicate flux and reflux from stanza to stanza is very characteristic of Mr. Rossetti's best work. "Love's Nocturn " classes itself with those and the sonnets also. It is a very beautiful and finished piece of work, and full of subtle melody, but sometimes obscure with more than the obscurity of the dreamy subject, and sometimes with a certain sense of over labour in it. Both these faults may be predicated also of a poem of the same No class, The Stream's Secret," which nevertheless is wonderfully finished, and has very high musical qualities, and a certain stateliness of movement about it which coming among its real and deep feeling makes it very telling and impressive. Poems by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. London: Ellis, 1870. |