english republic. - Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli

THE
ENGLISH REPUBLIC.
GOD AKl) TIIE PEOPLE
P
TFIE YEAR OF F A R is beginning: the T a r has begun.
Despotism has struck tlle first blow, smiting Frencc to the cart!]. The vanguard of the republican force is broken. The Ilcl~cc.5of so many fights have
crouched under the armed hand of the lieuteuaut of the Czar. P u t on your
mourning, dames of France ! for the humiliation of your country. Alas for the
degraded nation !
How was it that France rose not as one man when the veriest ape that ever
squatted upon a throne spat in the face of Freedom ? Her noblest sons were
in exile or in chains; 'the people were without leaders.'
Without leaders !
What, when every honest man's conscience, or even the poorest instinct of right
and mrong, should have helped a barricade against the outrages of this most despicable of perjured swindlers. But Fra~lccmust reap as she has sown. Step by
step this crowning infamy has been prepared. From the comard programme of
Lamartine in the provisional government., through the constitutional intrigues
of the Marrasts and the bloody plot of Cavaignac, through the villainy of the
Roman expedition, the unprincipled transactions of the Mou~ltainand the Reaction, and the anarchical dogmatisms of communist factions, the people has
been led, stage by stage, to the footstool of this Contamination. How could it
be otherwise? They consented to Lamartine's denial of any active duty toward
Humanity : it was natural to compromise their duty toward Home. If France
was not bound to move for Europe,-if all duty toward her neighbour was but
a matter of French policy-self-interest,-why
should she not etab Europe in
the back, if French interests desifed it P And though neither Larnartine nor
Odillon-Barrot was France, yet the nation which submitted to the atheistical
doctrine of the first had logically nothing to do but submit t ~the
. atheistical
conduct of the second. And tlle nation which deserted Ledru Rollin on the 13th
of June deserved the outrage of the 2nd of December. The want of honest
courage has brought this yoke upon your necks. The want of honest promptness then l ~ a smade you slow now. The fear of going too far has driven you
back into this Cossack ditch. With your Marraat Constitution providing only
2
TIIE ENOLISEI REPUBLIC.
against the people,-with your Mountain waiting for better opportunities, compromising with expedience, and ever preaching a 'politic' submission,-wit11
your communist misteacliing of material interest as 'the one thing needful,'
sowing distrust and a bcggarly egotism in men's souls, and pulling down or discrediting a11 of chivalry and devotion,-you have tamed the heroism of the
Nation, you have made it fit to be tlie slave of this Mulatto-Catiline.
That the men of Paris, hearing that the President had arrested Changarnier,
Cavaignac, Thiers and Company, should have stood still, was not to be wondered
at. Let the scoundrels fight it out among tliemselves. But when the people's
own leaders were proscribed, when the tyrant grinned through MS mask, when
the people itself was insulted by the dictation of the Perjurer, was it a time for
respectable men to hold back for any fear of a too-perfect Republic? was it a
time for the workmen to desert, although their cooperative societies had somewhat bettered their condition? They 'had been called a vile multitude': they
revenged themselves most vilely. Now feel the material benefit of your chains ?
0 France, what evil days are before you ! The evil mrhieh must purge away your
sins, the fiery wrath in which a new generation must be baptized. You, who in
your pride denied your duty to Ilumanity, must endure in your turn thc degradation and the pain of vsssalage: you, who could not be united for the sake of
justice, must have your full experience of the unmitigated extremity of anarchy.
Slavery, contempt, and civil war,-these shall be your lot till your hopes shall
become purified. You would not make way for the peaceful justice of the
People; tremble before the WRATI-IFUL JUSTICE O F GOD.
France has fallen. W e looked to her for the initiative, to her for the battlcsignal. That hope is passed. I t is to Italy that men must now appeal. To.
Italy, strong in her faith, in the enthusiasm and devotion of her people, in the
singleness and statesn~aushipof her republican leaders. For Italy the world
must wait. To the charging cry of Italy republican Europe shall respond.
Hungary watches now for that. Poland listens for the sound : no more to merely
lend her bravest to Italian and Hungarian campaigns, but to rise as a nation, and
to give a nation's aid to the warriors of Europe. Par and near the Sclavonian
races are mustering against thc Czar. Thc grcat heart of Germany yet beats.
Hasten, France! to rcdecm tliysclf, to be again a helper, however humbly, in
thc redemption of thy brethren.
France has fallen. One soldier from the ranks. TTho steps illto the vacant
place ? Already 3fonarchy raises an exultant shout, as if that one stealthy blow
was a surety of success. Let us drown that shout in one yet surer-ENGLAND
TO TIIE RESCUE !
France has fallen. There is no gratulation in that, whatever jealousy has been
between us. Sue11 jealousy that we have but too often championed the Wrong
only because our 'ancient ei~emy' was for the Right. Let our rivalry henceforth
be that of brothers in the fight. France has fallen; step we into her place, the
armed ally of European Freedom. What opportunity asks us now to be again
the first among the nations ! mThat occasion intreats us to make amends for the
sins against Freedom into which our rulers have so often led us ! N O longer
way Europe look to France for the vanguard of success; not to America shall
THE ESGLISII REPUBLIC.
3
Europe turn her gaze while Milton's soul can beam through English eyes, and
English hands have strength to wield the tyrant-slaying sword of Cromwell.
For what whould we wait? I s it nothing to our hearts whether Right or
Wrong shall triumph in Europe ? I s it nothing to our consciences ? Nay,
eveu if the descendants of the brave of old can stoop to believe the Devil's
Gospel of Non-intervention, will the result of tlie European War in no way
affect our lowest interests? For the War is sure. Whatever England may
think of it, however little England may care about it, there must be a decisive
answer to the question of our ~ ~ ~ - S E A LEUROPE
L
BE RUSSIANIZED
OR FREE,
COSSACK
OR REPUBLICAN?I t is possible that Englaud may stand aloof till the
question sllall be answered : it is barely possible. What then? Shall the free
nations point at us, holding us as infamous, in that we could have helped them
to victory and did not ? Or shall Ellrope writhing uilder Despotism curse the
English fools mho waited peaceably in their corner till the conquering Czar prepared to set his foot on them also? Our cause is the cause of Europe. One
same duty, one same hope or dread, one same destiny. There is no escape from
this. The day upon which the Tyrants shall proclaim that 'Order reigns in
Europe,' they will decree the death of Eugland : for they will dread the land of
heroic dust, however they may despise the nation of bankrupt shopmen. For
conscience' sake, and for our honour, for interest' sake and for our very existence,
but one path is open to England. That pat11 is the broad highway of European
Freedom, the path which freemen's swords shall open, through the closest ranks
of Wrongful Power, toward the peaceful future of the European Republic.
What can we do for Europe? 0, what? The earnest question ever finds its
own answer. Ask, not with words, but with endeavour. If all that hearty
~velcomingof the noble Hungarian had heart indeed beneath it, endeavour shall
not be wanting. We vill believe it had, for the Times lied when, intending to
show horn wea1tly;impulsive was our homage, it said that men drew Kossuth's
carriage into Birmingham. W e are not beasts, but men. And the ?nzes itself
is'siaee compelled to acknovledge the clear sense of Englishmen, among whom
(rxeepting Palmerston and his gang) there is but one man " to be found so base
as to admire the success of Louis 'Bonaparte.'
What ought we to do for Europe? First smite down the Whig traitorf, who
were accomplices of the assailants of Rome, who are admirers and abettors of the
assailants of France. How are we disgraced by Normanby, the British Representative, crawling into the palace of the Parisian Outlaw. Smite down these
betrayers of English honour, and place in their stead an English Government,
willing, and abled by the people, to speak English truth in the name of England.
Alas ! how smite them down, when they have based their seats upon so much
of English apathy, of English folly, of English ignorance? While we are content
' to be ruled by Whigs (of whatever denomination) to our disgrace at home, how
can we rid our selves of the shame of Whig leadership abroad P 0, my countrymen, earnestly applauding Kossuth, heartily disgusted at Louis 'Bonaparte,'
how shall you help Europe till you can help yourselves? how shall youchampion,
I
a
Sir Francis Head.
4
TEIE ENGLISH REPUBLIC.
republican freedom, when you have so little care for the republic, so littlc know.
ledge of republicau princioles ?
The causes of t i e de*adation in which Erauce is plunged are prevalent in
England too. Here, as there, men lack the spirit of patriotism, the heroic devotion, the h t e g i t g of real manhood. W e are content to trade and to make money,
careless of duty to men or belief in God. W e pray with ever.anxious lives for
any shabby gilding of our sepulchres ; and we renouncc for that the hope of
h o u r and everlasting worth. Our leaders and prophcts preach only active
meanness; we dare not intervene in any high question of Truth audQirtue. The
Curse which has demoralized France breathes pestilentially through this E~gliall
air. Beware lest on that pestilence the Destroying Angel come to smite us into
the grave from which there is no redemption-the g a v e of a dishonoured people.
Up, brethren! up, ye sons of the noblest 11earts of Europe! shake off this
lethargy in which your manly energies arc dissolving; be a p i n God's childrei~,
be again true-souled and heaven looking; strike yet again for your own salvation
and for the freedom of the world.
TiVe must learn the worth of republican principles before we can adnlinister
judgment between repub!icans and despots. Tllough our hearts are truly with
Mazzini and ICossuth, there lies not the question. It is not our adiniration of
the men, but our appreciatioil of the gospel which thcy utter, which alone can fit
us to becomc their true brothers. We must be their bretlircn, not only in afl'ection, but in faith, and in the work which ever waits on faith. Learn what republicailism is; sc shalt thou learn how best to help those heroic preachers of
the Republic.
But meanwhile let us not be only learning. If we can not Ggbt for freedom,
till we know what freedom fully means, nor force our masters to hclp the
fighters, WC yet, scattered and ignorant as we are, may do some little iudividually. Wllile the Palmerstons prevent us, we may not hold the red-cross
shield before Mazzini. While Whig laws coerce us we can not even raise a
legion, to bear our tricolour over the fields of Hungary, to win renown beside
that Polish Legion, whieh shall ere long pass from the shelter of our roofs to
renew the battle against Austria. But me can find, if i ~ o tthe men, at least the
arms and the equipment; and in so doing not only materially aid the cause 11-c
have at heart, but also morally encourage i t : for Europe will then be enabled to
say-The true heart of England is with us; and though Lihrs still reign there,
and speak in England's name of alliance with IYrong or non-interventisn between Wrong and Right, yet one by one are Euglislimen protesting, that thcy
do hope for Itight, that they will intervene to put down MTrong. This at least;,
under worst circumstances, we can do for Europe. This, even if no more, should
be our work for 1852. France has fallen : shout not, 0 ye dcspots of the e a ~ t h;
England is coming to the rescue.
TV. J. LINTOS.
d
J. T t s o n , 3, Queen's Head Passage, Paternoster Row, London.-KO.
1, Jan. 1.
RELIGION, FAMILY, PROPERTY:
WHO ARE THE FRIENDS OP ORDER?
By k: 4amennais.
What is the character, the tendency of the impulse rhich now moves the peoples?
what is it they would have?
They would have man fully reestablished in his original and natural dignity, by the
abolition of ercry power of rvhich the people is cot the source, of every arbitrary social
distinction, of every privileged class. No more slaves or mastcrq lordspr
a: serfs, little o r
great by right of birth or law; but a family of brethren.
What else would they have? The rcign of equal justice for all: education and work ;
assuring to all the life of both soul and body ; the concorrence of 811 ever increasing the
welrare of all. Such is the end to which an irresistible force irnpds the peoples.
This is the sense of the great dogma pronlulgalcd on the threshold of th2 new wodd:
LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY.
Liberty and equality resume man's right; fraternity expresses man's duty. From these
wbich is the sum of the conditions of life.
three springs ORDER,
These conditions present themsclves under thrce general forms, called Religion, PamiIy,
Property.
There is indeed no life, whether wcial or individual, whether moral or physical, except
in virtue of these universal laws and under their cmpire. Taking unfair advantage of the
words of some solitary dreamers, of some foolish paradoxes, it has been snid that th'ese
grand and eternal laws are denied and attacked by the rep~~blicaus. Never has more
audacious imposture attempted to abuse ~ u b l i ccredulity. I t is, on the contrary, the
doctrines, and who devote
republicans who defend them against monarchy and mo~~archical
themselves to assure their triumph. It, is time that on points of this high importance
light should be thrown; that, rending the veil which has been woven by passions recoiling
at no falsehood and interestedly irritafed even to frenzy, the truth should be made manifest
to the eyes of all.
RELIGIOB.
There is no word oftener in the mouths of the enemies of modern civilization and of
the p~.inciplesupon which it rests than the word RELIGION.They repeat it unceasingly;
they unceasingly oppose it as an accusation or a defiance against their adversarics. Vaguely
feeling that it corresponds to something immortal in man, to an absolntc social necessity,
they seek in it the force they lack, making use of religion as a sort of csclusivc property.
But what is their religion P Things radically dill'erent, excluding, an6 rcp~rlsiveto, each
other.
I n Spain and Italp pure catholicism; in France (now comprising Algeria)
beside catholicism certain protestant communions divided one apninst another, jadaism,
mahometallism,--all equally recognized by the law. The same variety in the rest of Europe.
Noa one of these religions can not be true without the other being false : for truth is
one. Under the same name of religion they comprehend indifferently the most opposite
beliefs, the most contrary worsl~ips,-investing thern with the same rights, declaring them
wort.hy of egtl8l respect. To adore Christ is religion ; to blaspheme Chriat is religion,
6
THE ENGLISH REPUBLIC.
Can one conceive a more impious, a more ~acrilegiouscontradiction P What is religion
thus understood except a political institution, an instrnment of rule, by whose means the
authorities retain the peol~le in subjection, snpporting the priest who supports them,
sharing power and s~ealthwith him, and founding their common power on the dcprcssion
and i m b n ~ t i n gof men's minds.
Nor is this all. Their religions, proscribing each other, hare caused, by the reciprocal
hatreds they inspire, horrible evils to Humanity.
Arming, in God's name, hrotlicrs
against brothers, what atrocioas strifcs, what frightful wars have they not maintained,
avowing murder, massacre, and extermination, as their end, and proclaiming thcm righteous
i n principle and holy in deed.
And when, owing to the inequality of forces, the combat ccased, what happened? Then
intoler;~nce,taking another form, engendered those fearful persecutio~iswhich even now
some zealots dare oper~lyregret : the dungccn, the tvooden horse, the wheel, torture of
every kind, the gnllons, the axe,-the sun veiled by the ashcs of the n~artyr-fires. Beside these horrors fear of science, ignorance systcmntically arranged in ordcr to maintain
submission, a t ~ dridiculous practices, nlis~ird supel.stitions, substituted for real duties;
whence the enreebliog of eonscicnce, and the corruption of morals subordinated to a blind
faith in dogmas nncomprehentled and often incomprehensible.
Such is what the dcfenders of the past call religion. Certainly it is not our religion,
it is not that which ought to Icad I-Iulnanity toward the futnre. Jb'ith us religion is the
link between men and Gud, between man and man, and conseqnently the sum of the laws
of intelligence and love ; i t is unbounded progress in scicncc, in right and dnty, through
t h e natural dcvrlollment of free thought and free conscience; i t is the application, ever
growing more and more perfect, to socicty as to individuals, of the sacred maxin~sof
universal morality, withant which thcre is no life; i t is, in the bosom of peace, eternal
growth of the true and good.
Between your religious and our religion let the pcoples choose.
rA1IILY.
Whoever monld deny the family and thc la~vsof family nrould deny man even in the
first condition of his existence: for the real man, mnn completed, who indefinitely
pcrpetuatcs hirtiself, is not the lnerc individual, but the complex unity of these three
inseparable terms-tl~c fathcr, the n~othcr,tlle child.
Thercfore the fanrily is sacred. I t s nat~~r:rl
and prirnordinl institution is sacred; and sacred
also are the laws which asaurc its integrity, its inoral pnrity and its physical preservation.
Ur~derall thcse aspects the history of tnonarchies is but a scrics of desperate attempts
against the family. There i~ no fcilnily for the slns-r, flnng out of IIum:lnity ancl &graded
t o be a mere arlirnal ; thcre is brit thc fiction of a family for the serf, at.t:~chcdto the glebe,
almost wholly drprivcd of l~ersonol ri:lit$, dcpcrldil.g, he and his, on tlie will, on the
caprices, of his master: and wl~crc[lid net this arbitrary will, these caprices, extend
under the fcnilal repirnc, yet in visonr in many p:rrts of ICoropc ?
What was the fanlily to Louis XIV, u h o ~ eauthority deprived his protcstaut suhjccts of
their sons and danghters, breaking under pretext of religion the most sacrrd ties, ~ ~ i t h
atrocious barbarity making sport of ~ h despair
c
of pnrel.ts, of their tenderness, of their
irnprescriptible duties, tortnring them in the w r y dc[ltlls of their conscience.
What is the family t o Nieholas, tearing flocks of ehildrcn frcm thc domestic hearth t o
dislrihute them in his military colouies like bcasls of burthen, as mere instrun~entsof
labour and propagation ?
It would he superfluous to accumrdate facts of this kind, known to all. And as to
T B E ENGLISH REPUBLIC.
t
7
moral laws, think only of the examples given h p kings, the morals of courts passing even
into a proverb. Contempt of marriage and its sanctity, adultery, incest, sometimes polygamy, the last licer~ciousexcrsses impudently and bcastiily paraded bcfort: a11 eyes ; and
beneath, the corr~tptionfilteriug through imitation, a slow dissolution of the organs of
life, the gangrene of a body no longer sensible : this has been alwags seen, this we see
everywhere in monarchies.
The need of providiug for thc wants, !he loxnry, the profusions of royalty and an idle
aristocracy, which robs the people of the grcater portion of the products of their toil,
~ g in part at least,, of the
causes agnin a col~tinuala t t a ~ kagainst the firnily, d c p ~ . i v i ~it,
means of 1111ysicalhcalth, of food, of clothes, of proper lodging: whence jlroceed misery,
diseases, vice, the tleplorable separation, especially in towns, of the children from the
mother, who is constmincd day by day to abandon tlleni in order to b ~ i n gthcm at night
some little nourishment from the price of her ill-pnid labour.
The repnblicans, thosc 'enemies ' of the fi~mily,undcrst.1nd the word, it is true, in s
very different fashion.
They \vould have it holy, respecting its intesrity in all its
2nd moral conditions.
They \I-ould that, frecly formed by the ntt~.:!clion of pure aflictions, it shoulic keep itself
pure, exempt from all profanation, from all thc disorders ensrndered by the evil su=gestions
of hunger, the ternptations even (I~orribleto think of) of opposiny duties.
They wonld that, in place of prcsent cares aud sufferinas, and ploomy forebodings of the
futurc, there should sit down at the family hearth confid(~are,serority, conleutmeut, the
joy of living again in our own, conj~~gnl,
filial, ancl patcroal love, and all those i n ~ E l b l e
blcssi~igs~ ~ h i cGod
b has sown betwcen the cradle nr~dthe tomb.
They wonld that, the wants of the hotly snpplied, thc spirit also should have its food,
that instruction should dcvelope it, thnt light should pcnctrnlc nrldcr the lo~t-est th:,lch as
through the splendid pdace, that nifh it should cutcr, after toil, the scicncc aliieh renders
toil more fruitful, the enjoyments of art which elevate the soul and charm the grief* inseparable from human life.
IIcrc apnin, bet5veen the family such as it cxists under monarchics, and the family such
as the rep~tblicnnsconceive and desire it, let the 11;opIes choose !
PROPEILTY.
There is room for astonishment that the ~nonarcl~ists,pretending absurd fears, have
dared to call public attention to this grand, this universnl law, not ouly of man hut of all
beings, the law of property; and especially to affect to be its defenders against the
repahlicans : for both in principle and in fact monarchy is its negation.
I n fact, there is no monarchy mhicli had not its orizin in conquest, followed by the dispossession of the primitive inhabitnnts of t l ~ eland, thcncrforth constrained to e~rltivatcit as
slaves or serfs, for the protil of tlie masters v110 h;ld f'orcibl~despcilrd t11cn1. Thus spoliation, thd't b: the armed hand, hns becn the fo~~udation
of l~ropertyin all the a r ~ e i e ~ ~ t
monarchics : robbery of the Inud, robbery even of persons, bu~ind to, incorporated with
the land, uoprodnrtiea wiihol~ttlieir l:ibonr, like thnt of the bc:~sts of the ficld.
This fi~ct,in order to bccorne durable, in ordcr that the per~nonentend of the invasion
into a 1:iw. Thus the first priilcipl; of feudal
might be attained, had to be trii~~sforrned
law v;;is the solerrln co~lsecrationof this fwt, e s t : ~ l ~ l i s hthat
i ~ l ~ 'as to the scrtb, their lord
'can take all 111ey have arid llold their bodies in 11risor1ahznever it Inay plcase him,
hether her wrong or whether right, ancl that he is responsible to no one save90 God.'
(Beaumanoir.)
Bnt the same conrEe of pnceliure has
a Lamennais takes his examples fi.orn France?'
obtained in England; wherever indeed feudalit has ruled and left its foot-marks.
8
THE ENGLISH REPUBLIC;
If notwithstanding, beyond this strict law, by dint of labour and saving, the serf couIb
attain to the creation of a sort of patrimony, he yet could not transmit it. 'Children'says the law, have nothing, unless it be redeemed from the lord, as any stranger would do.'
(IT~nrrolzde Pancry.)
T h e n feudality declined, the kings, coneentring in themselves all the rights of the
seignenrs reduced little by little to obedience, became and declared themselves sole primary
proprietors; sole sovereign masters of persons and of goods.
This maxim dominated all legislation till the time of Louis XIY, ' who, seeing in it the
rery essence of royal$, founded it, according to the judgment of his theologians, on the
cxpresmill of God.
If all belonged to the king in virtue of a primordial divine right, the king might
sovereignly dispose of all: and he did not fail to do so. Thence arose arbitrary, excessive,
and rui~loustaxcs, confiscations, the violatiorl of engagements too U-eakto restrain the
royal power, and the alu~ostpermanent scandal of public banliruptcies. On what ground
could one complain? The king, the sole proprictor, did as he liked with his own. What
he left to his subjects, they possessed as a mere mat,ter of grace.
Long ages passed alray under the empire of this monstrous principle. But at last the
moment arrived in which the human conscience, rnore enlightened, revolted against it. A
revolution, re pored by thevcry cxcess of evil, was about to burst forth. Its first act was to
proclaim the mis11l1derstood right of property, radically denied till then. Serfs, villeins or
subjects, people conquered, and for ages bowed beneath the yoke of a power rvhich owned
no limits, lift np thyself, and listen to these words, echoing through time the eternal words
of God, these words of enfranchisement giving thee possession of thyself.-'Property,
like
'liberty, is one of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man'. And again :-'Pro'perty is an inviolthle and sacred right: nonemay be deprived of it.' (French Constifution
of 1791.)
A new era was opened to 11s. Yet, though the right was acknowledged, the first application was far from being con~plete:numerous traces of former iniquities remained, in the
unequal imposition of taxes, in the often unjost mode of sharing the fruits of labour, called
wages, in the privileges of capital, in the vicious or,onnization of credit, that inexhaustible
source of all kinds of usnry, in the numerous obstacles which render the attainment of
property so diffici~ltto the poor.
Here are the rcforms pursued by the republicans. Children of the revolntion, far from
attacking property, the fundamental princi1)lesof which, denied by themonarchy, had been
proclaimed by the revolution, the end of their efforts is to assure and to develope the right
which consecrates it, to extend to all the effectual enjoyment of it. Acknowledging that
i t has its origin, its only legitimate origin, in work, since materially it is onlythe accumulation of ihc products of work, they neither trench upon nor dispute the past, but demand
only that henceforth each one, reapins where he has sown, shall labour for hinlself and not
for allother, and thus he able, by creotiog for himself a personal property, to realize one of
the conditior~sof his perfect enfranchisement, of that liberty which is the essential attribute
of the moral being, the libeyty which lnaltes him really man.
We say then to the monarchists, to theobstinate supporters of the old system of society:
-You are the enemies, the deniers of property, as of liberty; and it is for this that the
people reject you, that the f11t1u.t:is forcr?? denied to you. f erepublicans defend against
5.011both liberty and property, all the foundations of moral order, of etcrnal justice, in its
principles and its consequences; and this is why the future, despite your desperate
resistance, belongs to us.
J. Watsou, 3, Queen's Head Passage, Paternoster-Row, London.-No.
2, Jan. 8.
LOUIS 'BONAPARTE' AND HI8 I'OLICY.
.
TO THE EDITOR OF TIIE TINES.'
For the last three years the English public has been singularly wrong in its estimate of
bets and its anticipations of the future. The dominant ideas with it and with the Press
Rere dislike of the Republic, dread and horror of the Socidzsts, sympathy at first, injustice
afterwards, toward the majority of the Leyislative Assembly, and blindness to the character,
the designs, and machinations of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. The perjury of that arch
kaitor is too patent now to be denied, although there are parties who, in public and in
private, from ignorance or from interest, gloss occr it.
I believe that it is of the first importance to our material interests to appreciate the
real nature of the present crisis.
. . .
. . . . .
I f ever a party has been hardly treated by writers of all classes in this country i t is that
of the modern French Republicans. They comprise a great pottion of the courage and
the larger part of the principle of the nation. Come what may, it will szlrvive, and
whatever dynasty or despotism is fated to rnle France will always have to count with if.
After the opprobrium lavished upon these Republicans, what crime have they committed?
Did the revollitiou of 1848 massacre peaceful citizens, pour volleys of musketry and grape
into the mansions of the Bolllcvards, shoot its prisoners in cold blood, and organize a reign
oi terror? I t did nothing of all this, for it suffcred Louis Phillppe to escape ; i t left its
vorst enemy, Thicrs, unharmed; it abolished the pnnishmeut of dcath for treason ; and it
hcld out a more cordial hand to Englaud than WC had ever grasped before, or, perhaps, arc
likely to grasp again.
Thc Republic dld one other act of magnanimitystruck off the proscription of the Bonapartes, for which they have rewarded it.
I do not defend fhe e x f r a v ~ a n c eof
s Socialism, but Soctalists and Rrpblicans are
seot convertible fernzs; nnd be thef o m e r what the9 may, their errors are those of imperfect reasoning, which time, the exercise of polifical rights, experience, and reason
itself, would correct. And it mwst leot be forgotten lAat a ~izurkethas been wade of the
fears of Frenchmen, and of the tgnorance of E,zr~lishmen, zn 1Re drnz/nciation of the
Socialists. Was it proposed to diminish the duties on consamption, to reduce the army,
to organize anything like a tax on property, to modify the harsh bankruptcy laws, to attempt a Poor Law-to imitate, in fact, that lcg~slationwhich almoat all parties here
approve of-and the hue and cry of ' Socidlism' was instantly got up against the unfortunate Republicans.
Socialism, in fact, has been and is at this very moment
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the 'raw head and bloody bones' of those iu power, raised to terrify the timid and
the ignorant into voting away their hberties.
I do not and can not defend the XIajority of the Notional Sssembly. Their sympathies
were always against the Republic-their policy to undermine aud overthrow it. Lollis
Napoleon and they wcre in partnership; and from the moment of his election they combined to crash Republican feeling, to harass and oppress the Republican: themaelces, and
by every artifice, calumny, and violence, to render thern contemptible and odious. To@,her they plained and executed the expedition to Rome; together they consigned 10
4
From the ir"~,tes of December %Olh, 1651.
fO
T R E ENOLISII REPUBLIC.
T H E ESOLISLI REPUBLIC.
beggary and ruin the primary tcachcrs, aud committed education to the Jesuits; t ~ e t h e r
they dcgsadcil the Unii-crsitg and snbjccted it to tliosc salnc Jesuits ; togcll~crthey bnrketl
univcrsal suffrage, of which they both were born, because, disgcctccl with tlicir rcaction:~ry
nlcasiucs, tllc clcctoss of Paris had gi\-eii a votc agniust tli,:l:i ; toaclher thcy postpo~lcd
i h c laws on thc corniliunal organization, the mnnicipal boclics, and thc N:rtional Gnard,
and falsified in them the electivc priuc.iple; togethcr thcy practised all sorts of illcgi?lities,
sanctioning the worst abuse of preventive arrests, arbilmry imprisonnrents, sham plots, and
police conspiracies; together they displayed the grossest partiality in allo\\.ing or prohibiting the sale of journals iu the streets; together they passcd the law on sipnatures to
entrap aud crush the journalists; and t o ~ e t h c rthey kept whole departrncnts of France in
the state of sicgc for nearly thrcc years ou the most flimsy of pretcnccs. Let the JIojority
look back and ask itself for d o s e protit it forgot its dutiss, outraged justice, and violated
the constitution which it involtcs in vain.
I turn to Louis Napoleon. I n exile and in yonth a Socialist w r i t e r a volunteer in the
patriot army of Italy-a companion of the loosest scctioii of the English aristocracy-the
hero of the conspiracies of Strasburg and Boulognc-the brcalccr of his word to Louis
Philippe-the proscribed of the 3fonarchy-the rcc:illed of the Republic-he had given,
indeed, few pngcs to order, to honour, or his country, when he became its citizen.
The Republican constitution was framed, the respective powers of the legislative and of
the executive departments werc distinctly and carefully defiucd, the subordination of the
President and the d u r a t i o ~of~ the l'rcsidellcy wcrc as distinctly declared ; and, knowing all
this, Louis Napoleon became a candidate for the ofKce mith its obligations, was elected,
and solemnly swore to observe them ' i n the prcsence of God and man.' 011 two diffcrcnt
occasions he volunteered to renew that sacrcd promise, and on a third he dcclared in a
message to the nation that he should set his honour on the keeping of it. Words, oaths,
and honour-where are thcy now ?
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O n the 2nd of December the coup d' i t a t was struck.
I shall say nothiug of its Zetails, nor of thc horrors that have followed. They are
written in blood 011 tlrc memory of Vrauce. 13ut eau 311y man doubt, who k ~ ~ o sher
s
liisfory for the last three ycars, tllnt Louis Nirpolcol~has ncvcr for one instant ceased to
ho marched ~vitllthe Majority
conspire since the Ilcpublic nd~nittedhim a cilizcn-that
while the blajority conld bc his tools a i ~ dmight becon~cllis il~stromcnts-that hc broke
with it as soou as i t saw t11r011phhis dcsigns, and ljingly appcalcd to thc suffragc he had
n~utiltitcd-that his 11rcsidcnti:~lrcign was one long jugqlc vilh the fcars of orle class by
goading auothcr to despair-that he h:~ssystematically dcbal~clicd the army, and effected
a trcachcrous and bloo~lyrc\~oluliou by pnicl l'rztorian Lauds-that he has vio:ated the
most solemn, reiterntcd, and voluntary oaths taken to ' God and man,' and that hc has
compasscd a military (lcspotinm more dcbasing and dchased, more uuivcrsal, and more
ruthless, than France has cvcr groaned imdcr?
Can this endure? I am not an atheist, and I answcr No! The wrath of Hcavcn does
uot blast in our days Ananins vith lhc lic upon his lips. The Christian world does not
deify Kemesis, bnt she still csists, and sti!l, pcrhnps, is lame. The logic of Crime is Rctribution. Thc perjured traitor who now r~rlesFrnuce rulcs by terror only. The sanction
"krc follows a 11istol.y of his coilrsc : \rhicli I omit olily for want of room. The
other hricf passages also oillitted are so only for the sar:?c rcusou. Jdilliur r?f $he E%ylish,
Ecpudlic,
11
of that treason by universal suffrage is too gross a sham to need exposure, and too bitter a
mockery even for derision. H e g o v e r ~ ~by
s and for the army, and the po\r-cr that made
can by one shout u u r : ~ : ~him.
~ ; ~ I I c bought with hard cash its bayonets and ils votes11c must still c o n t i u ~ ~toc buy. The deriatives of the Lower En~pirehave commenced
llutchurs of the 6oz~~groisie
arc on war allowance. The ofliccrs have got
dready.
gmt~~itics-no inan knows how much. illarsbals of France have been
promotion
created, and a CO*.!:; :l of Yive is 'in the air.'
But this mililn::v tgrant is not himself a soldicr. I l c
'Never sct a sqnadron in the field,
' Nor the divisions of a battle l i ~ ~ o w s
' i\Torc than a spinster.'
Cromnell and the first Napolcon were the great captains of their agt ; thcir lientenants
had served, thcir armies had been formed, under them, and both were bound to them by a
conlmon glory-not, as to this man, by a common crime. I l e is dependent wholly on his
generals ; the state of siege con~pelsthe conccntratiou of enormous forecs in the several
military divisions of France under some hdf-dozcn chiefs. Who is to answer for tbeir
fidelity and for thcir accord? When jcalousics spring up, as they certainly will, can the
l)uppct of the Elys6e appeasc them? ' Give! give !' will be the cry ; and woe to him when
he rcfuscs. Can the rotten financial system of Frauce sustain the inevitable prodigality?
Whence will the money come? From the people? I dare him to increase taxation.
Socialist that he was, madmall and impostor that I believe him to be, he talks of shifting
and of lightening it. The abolilion of the octrois and the wine-tax is possible on one
eondition-the reduction of the army. The Republic ?night do that-he can not. Will
he borro~v? Will you capitalists of England lend? I s the experience of Spain, of
Portugal, of Austria, lost upon you? You cannot be such idiots as to pitch your ingots in
thc gulf of this despot's necessities, and of a sure repudiation of a future France. Will
hc rush to mar? For what ? That matters not. Any pretext is enough for him who laughs
a t truth and oaths. But hc can not assail thc military despotisms of the continent. They
are his natural allies, and their tyrannies prop his own. The old Rcpublic conquered to
llle cry of liberty, and Napoleon but coml)lcted, under the flag of despotism, what that cry
had commenccd. Did thc ~ n o d c rKcp~~hlic
~~
march its battaliorls illto Grrniany with
'Liberatiol~ of the Pcoplc' on its ballucrs, the issue n ~ i g h tbe fearful for the houses of
Hohcnzollcrn and of IIapsburg. But no shout of frecdom can be raised by rl~isman's
Janissarics, and Lhcy must face the hatred of thc German people as well as thc discipline
of Gcrman hosts.
I t is England that he dreads, and on England 11e must war, if he war at all. But war
has its special perils for him. If he fail, he is damned past saving ; if he succced, it must
bc by the haucls of others. Will some liew 'hero of a hundred fighis ' bc roritellt to
for him? W l ~ yshoald he P The usurpation of Napoleon is a school and a lesson for
nsurpcrs. XVar mith England 11as its pccuiiar dangers. If Stcarn has done much for
France, it has done more for us ; thc alliance with America looms largcr and ncarcr ; and,
sad as it is to think of such strife, I believe that crc mauy compaigus were past the cornmcrce of our enemy would be extinguished-his ports would be blocliaded-Iris mcrcnntije
marine laid up, or prizes in the British. harbour-his fleet sunlr, burnt, or captured, and
his naval power u tradition.
The strzlqqle, however, i s p~o6a13Ze-perha~~sinznzi~zent. JVe may conzde i i 6 God
our right, but we mny ?rot fie supine. W C l~avcto deal wilh duplicity, faithlessness, aud
daring, rccltlcu professions, stealthy prcparationq :..l11 a sudden blow. 3Xe lover tfflccrce
12
TEE ENGLISH
REPUBLIC.
5nwt 6e ready for war, and Mr. Cobden can not now recommend us to disarm.
01m
no more quarrels with our colonies; a speedy end to
Czffre campaigns; concentration at home of disposable troops, an efficient maritime force
in the Channel and in the harbours most accessible to Bance; wise concessio~tsl o pzcblic
opinion, and conseglcent conzdination of all clas~es.
Men are too apt to forget the past and to take counsel of their passions. Charles X. fell
because he attempted despotism, Louis Philippe because he refused reform, the Legislative
Assembly because it was reactionary, and Louis Napoleon has triumphed to the cry of
universal suffrage. IF such a bait could hook democratic journalists here, can we wonder
if French morknleu and soldiers should have swallowed i t ? Time will undeceive them,
and the moral is to come.
If there be a man who is not to be envied, that man is Louis Napoleon. A elf-convieted perjurer, an attaiuted traitor, a conspirator successful by the fouulcst ttcachery, the
purchase of the soldiery and the butchery of thousands, he mast, if not cut short in his
career, go all the lengths of tyranny. For him there isno halt, for his system no clement
of either stability or progress. I t is a hopeless and absolute anachronism. The presidential chair, or the impcrial throne, is set upon a crater-thc soil is volcanic, undermined,
and trembling-thc steps are slippery with blood-and the darkening steam of smouldering hatred, conspiracy, aud vengeance, is exbaling round it. Xaeh party can furnish its
contzngents for iyrannicide: the assassin dogs him in the street, and even at the balls
or banpets of the E2yst.e he mnyjind the fate qf Gustnvus. H e who has been false to
all must only look for falsehood, and is doomed to daily and to nightly fears of mutiuies,
insurrections, and revenge. Conscience can not be altogether stifled, and will sometimes
obtrude, in her horrible phantasmagoria, the ghastly corpses of the Boulevards.
But, where is th3 national party in his fa\,otrr, of which we heard so much? I sce no
sign of it. The nrmp has been corrupted and inflamed by appeals to its basest and
bloodiest instiocts,-the Jesuits are cnl~stedby the earnest and the promise of spiritual
and material plunder,-the timid are terrified by the past, the present, and thc future,the servile, of the Baroche class, are crawling, belly in the dust, to place and pension,and the foul hcrd of sycophants and parasites that suck the strength and blood of power
in France, the roue, the gnmbler, and the desperate in character and fortune, choke the
doorways of the Elyske. If Napoleon has a party at all in the country, it is among those
Socialist workmen whom he has seduced with hopes and has begun to bribe with lzrgesses.
The peasantry may be on his side, but three years' experience has cooled, if it has not
worn out, thcir enthusiasm, and the fiercest resistance to his usnrpation has been encountered in the rural districts. IIc is plnying his old game of baxnboozling the Legitimists,
as wcil as some chiefs of the Orleanists.
They must be fools indeed to help to
consolidate his tyranny.
If this man's reign is destined to continue, even for a brief doration, the world will
witness the most heterogeneous jumble of despotism and of demagoguy, of socialism aud
corruption, that history has ever chronicled. The bribery of Walpole, tbe theories of
labour of Louis Blanc, the stoclrjobbing of the worst days of Louis Philippe, the dcportations of the Czar, the razzias of Algeria, will all meet in one marvelous system of anarchy
that will be called Imperial Govcrnmeut. Its great aim and object m to gag the country
and to 'rig' the market; and under this patent of franquzlity and orrler France will bc
onc vast military hell, with Louis Napoleon for its croz~pwr.
ROVSEMUST
BE PUT I N O R D E R ;
AN ENGLISHMAN.
1
THE MESS OF POTTAGE.
people vould only look after their bread and cheese instead of
fighting -!
There were four travellers in a raibay carriage,-three conversing
together and a fourth who listened t o them. The three mere much as under :A Cobdeiiish sort of fast man in a rough overcoat, cute, keen-eyed, and h a ~ n g
his moutli tied up with a dirty blue and pink-striped handlrerchief;
A loose-lipped, )look-nosed, soft-looking crafty Jew (he miglit have had Thiers
as his representative), dropping his words thickly and foolisllly, with an aEectation of good nature;
A fat (hard-fat) shopkeeper, hearty enough, but his licart walled up, an holiest
kind of mild prize bull, respectable and in good humour.
Of course they talked of the French revolution, and the rcvolutions yet t o
come; and be sure it was the commercial traveller who pronounced this tradegospel :-' IF THE PEOPLE WOULD ONLY LOOK AFTER THEIR BREAD AND
F THE
B
CHEESE INSTEAD OF PIGIITING.'
Whereupon I ventured to intervene. Is thc 'bread and checsc' then, I said,
-and let the phrase includc turtle and claret a i d cetera :-Is the 'bread and
cheese' then the best a man nced look arter?
'Better than fighting ! '
Possiblj so, if all the question lay there. Bot, rrs on thc one sidc the figl~ting
is not all, so on the other side tlie 'bread aiid cliccsc' (mcauing, I picsumc, the
creature comforts, matcrial well-beiug) is not all.
The people do not fight for mere figliting' sake. They figlit for an object.
The question is not merely bctmecn$ghting and 'breucl and cheese,' but bctwcen
the object for which we would fight and tlie 'bread and cheese' we may have
without fighting.
If our object is the fulfilment of duty?
If it is between fighting at some call of Duty and thc 'bread and cheese' oE
Shame that we have to choose?
'What duty P' asks tlie pink stripe.
Man's duty to Humanity. Let me try to explain that to the unknowing
Bagman while the train is nearing another station.
Man is a social being : there had been neither Jews nor Bagmen else. Open
your deep eyes, friend Bull! shake yourself, and listen as well as your wall of
fat will let you.
Man is a religious being: let the Cobdens and the Thiers deny it s s they will.
No offence : I mean virtually. W e can see you are practical men.
+%S a social being man can not isolate himself from his kind ; as a religious
being he can not be contented with the present.
t
THE ESGLISH REPUBLIC.
However little considered on the Stock-Excliangc, errcry man lives for
Eternity; owes other duties-say debts-beside those entered in his ledger.
TO work for Eternity he must do that which can cniluxe. I t is no stonc
monument, never so handsomely inlaid with I-Iudsonian gold or brass, wliich call
endure to be of the slightcst bencGt to Eternity. It is an honest life which
alone can serve-that is, worship-the Everlasting.
'Twig the parson! sermons for Sundays!' says the conimereial Christian.
'Certainly !' cliimcs in the easy-mouthed Jew.
Let them stare through the mindo~vthen, wlrilc I continue in the ear of
this respectable Phlegmatic.
It is only an honest life which can serve the Everlasting. And what is an
honest life ?
'Ay, that's coming to the point. I'd likc to see the man I owe so much a s
a penny to.'
You have not far to look, fiicnd ! The first you meet may phallenge you.
Did we not say-Man is a social being? Tell mc vllat you havc borrowed from
Society, fi on1 Humanity.
Have not you borromed dI that makes lifc valuable? must not cten the
highest growth and attainment to which you can aspire bc a consequcilce of the
help of EIumanity : not perhaps of those inlmcdiatcly aiouuci you, nho may be
in collisioii wit11 you (they are only a small part of I-Iumanity), but of all of
Humanity from tlie beginning till now ?
That you are eased in f ~ and
t supexfine broadcloth; tliat jou have an impulse,
dbeit lctl~argic, tolvard sometliiug yet more respectable; illat you havc a social
position; tliat you arc no loiigcr a naked, half-starved, brutal savage, but a
comfortable acll-combed citiz~ntravelli~~g
five-aud-twenty miles an hour along
with creditable bagmen and the like: for so much as this is wortli, you, my
which
honest friend ! are i~idebtcdto tllc struggles of Ilumaiii!y,-struggles
oftcntimes amornltcd to very l~aidfighting. P r ~ ythat debt to IIumanity, by
struggling in your turn for hu~iianimprovement even though it sl~ouldlead you
to ligliting.
'But I have no one to figlit against.'
Can that be ~ossiblc?-'Nor any one
to fight for.' Sllanie, mail ! doil't be cowardly.
Any way do not blamc those who in tlleir cndcavours for IIunlanity, meeting
opponcnts, are compcllcd to fight; nor inisjr~dgcotllcrs who cven choose t l ~ c
combat for tlie sake of their fellows, tlie ncnk, tlie suffering, and the oppresscd.
Bewarc of coiiclcn~ningtl~oscn11o ulidcisii~udtlicir dutics to Humanity.
'Better look after tl~eir" brrad and elleese "! ' growls thc peaceable Bagman
again. After all 11c could not help listening.
But suppose you may not have even your 'bread and cheese' without fighting?
'That's anolher matter. Of course I mould fight for that.'
A sensible fellow! Ton would fight for tlie lowest needs of life; and you
would not fight for Trutl!, or Honour, or Humanity !
Give up then your cant of virtuc and moral wortl~,your Sunday talk of God
and righteousness ! own yourself what you are,-atheistic, sclfish, sordid, and
they eat and
unprincipled; your life something poorer than the beasts,'-for
THE ENGLISR REPUBLIC.
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drink carelessly without dread of the morrow, while yon toil anxiously, nnresistingly, madly, that you may cat ancl drink on some morrow that never comes.
'Bot is there no clloice cxcept bctween this sty-provisioning and fighting?'
Possibly not. Nay! are you sure that even the trough may be filled so
peaceably ?
Shut up in this England, it may seem at first sight that we have no concern
with the quarrels of Europe ; bllt is E1;glaad really so self-sufficieiit?
Do not her cheese-and-peace-mongers dcal with Europe? Has not cven our
Trade (that one thing needful, and so niuch better than fighting) some depcndenec up011 the pcace ancl liberty of Europe ?
\That if the Peoples of Europe sliould accept the bread of slavcry, mill safetllroucd Despotism open continental ports to Englnncl? I s tliere room yet for
a bargain of that sort ? 'Xilslavc tlle nations; me sllall not intciferc : only givc
us the order for the iron of their chains.'
But the Peoples \-rill not be lxibed will1 tlic pcace of slavcry. The Europca~l
War now beginning rnnst c i ~ deit1:cr in the triu~npllof tlie l'eoplcs or in their
subjugation-only until Ihei,. sfreligfh be ~enezced.
Let t,hc cowards and ille materialists prcncli as they may, the mar bet~vcen
Riglit and Wrong, between Freedom and Despoiism, tlle battle for idcas, for
prihciples, will and must continue.
AKD, SooSER OR LITEX, WE NCST BE DBAWN I N T O IT.
Tvlicther the Peoples shall look after the 'bread and cheese' or turn to
fighting : this is no longer a possible form of tlle question. They must figl~t.
The only clnestion for true, the only practical men to corisider is-IIozu to
muke that$ght as b~iefas2iossible. This for the highest sake, for the salie of
real Peace, the l'eace \1,11ich eau only bc estabiished upon Justice, upon the
overthrow of Wrong. This, too, cvcn for sake of the 'bread and cheese,' which
shall be llardly earned in precarious times of war.
But you told us to look clfler tlie brcaci and cheese. Friend ! if you could
persuade tliese troubled spirits to give up fighting and scttlc down into tamest
sleek oxenship---I mill not say to you, as was said of old, 'If tlicsc could hold
their peace, the very stones mould rise'; but do you too look after such a
trade-paradise. What must comc after ?
If men could so abjure all thc licroism of lifc, could so ease themselves of that
divine impulse to active hatred against Injust,iee-which is the logical conscquence of thc eilcrgetic love, or worship, of Trutlr,-if men could so stoop their
souls t 3 merest sordidness,-it is ]lot cvcn tlle shabby l~eavenof Trade to which
they woiild attain. Think of France taught 'peace' by Louis the Crafty, and so
becoming fit slavc for Louis the Basc ! Think of Russia, Cossack-trampled !
And judge what Europe would be with zonic Czar or Jesuit for God, and such
things as Louis 'Bonaparte' for his Vicegerents.
Would we stoop our England to this abomination ?
Would me sell our birthright of honour, as eldest-born of Freedom, for such a
filthy mess of Devil's Pottage as this ?
What must we do, else ?
First disclaim the infamous jargon of 'non-intervention' mhicli is uttered in
16
TIIE l3NCLISH REPUBLIC.
our name, that atheistic doctrine which is either cowardly or most vilely selfish;
and let our voices again be heard for the Right, our pity again be active for the
Oppressed, our hope again soar, like a presage of victory, above the heads OE
those wilo fight for human freedom. So perhaps through our sympathy with
others me may learn some higher sense of duty toward ourselres.
For we have indeed cared but too mu cl^ for thc 'bread and cheese,' and
forgotten the higlier matters.
But still persists our plllegmatic friend. 'Can you with a well-regulated mind,
as an honest nian and a christian, a peaceful citizen, and perhaps the father of a
family,-can you dcliberatelp propose that me shall go to mar P '
My dear Sir ! I propose nothing of the sort. I propose only that me shall bc
honest, and do our duty to onr neiqhbours, whether that lead to war or not.
Peradventure the good resolutiou may obviate the necessity for war.
Had we been in earnrst when French Ruffians were reiglling anchor a t
hfarseillcs, or when Eussia threatened to put his foot upon Hungary, we might
have saved Europe then, and by this time have had peace assured.
That too without a blow. Xeither Odillou-Barrot nor his master had fired one
shot into our blockading squadron; nor mould the Czar have dared u s to bombard
St. Petersburt..
I f we must fight now, 0 you short-sighted prophets of 'Peace,' it is because
wc were afraid then.
Afraid : and we are Englishmen.
0, bring home our manhood ! What fear, and we the sons of them who sank
the Invincible Armada ? What fear, and we the heirs of them who g i ~ r can
active sympathy, not mere after-dinner words, to the Waldenses ? What fear,
and we the successors of the men of Agineourt, of Trafalgar, and Waterloo ?
L e t us learn again wliat patriotism is; what valour; what honour; what
heroic worth; what championship of the Right; what service to God and Nan !
And so act. Come what may.
Come what may : Jesuit or Cossack. The issue is our own.
'Where be your pomcrs ? Show now your mended faiths
'And instantly return with me again,
'To push destruction and pcrpctual shamc
'Out of the weak door of our fainting land !
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'This England never did, nor never shall,
'Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror
'But when it first did help to mound itsclf.
' N o r these her princes are come home again,
'Comc the three corners of the world in arms,
'And we shall shock them. Nought shall make us rue
'If England to itself do rest but true'.
W. J. LINTON.
WORKING-MEWS COMBINATIOES.
STBlKES AND CO-OPERbTIVE ASSOCIATIONS.
Y & % r n ~ ~ x s are to be cmsidered from two points of view: the& nzorality
:+S] and tlieir policy.
h
- JIorctlitr/. Workmen have a clear right to combine, whether for less mork,
nlore wages, & other honest purposes. fhcg have a right also to adopt any
measures in themselves moral, to make tbeir combination ell'ective. Frec association, by honest means to achieve an honest end, is a natural right : aud conscquently moral, wllatever law may forbid it. But coercion is not a right. Men have
no right to compel others to associate. To do so is to violate individual freedom.
Poliq. At the best strikes are endeavours at au tulequal coinbat : like trving
to make ten colnbincd shillings a match for a single sovereign. The naked
\~orkman,with at least one hand ticd, challenges his armed mastcr. No strike
can be more than tel~lporarilysuccessful. No serics of successful strikes cau
establish a souud state of 1;bour. 9strike of 200 men rrlay seriously injure the
s ~ a s t e r ;but that is w t the end. The question is between t.heir means and his.
They have saved g2000 ; and he has £2000. I t is a simple calculation to find
wl~ichmust bc start cd out first-the co~rlbinedworkmen with Q10 each or thc
one master with £2000. As 10 is to 2000, so is t l ~ chance
c
of success to the
policy of the strike ; albeit sometimes a master may give way, and wait for his
revenge. Nor is this all the odds against a a orkiuan. Tlic 200 workulen will not
easily fiud mork elsenl~cre: the master's capital is almost certain of employment.
At nlost hc suffers only a fine, wliile tlie men risk life. Aud outside thls foulmatched duel stands the Law, tlie master's creaturc, to maintain the unequal
conditions, to interfere if tlle workman overstep by ohe inch the ill-defined legd
bounds within mhiell alone the mast,cr consents to fight him. Whatever principles may be involved in the issue, thougli to hang back bhould prove the workman wanting in commonest manly courage aud sense of duty, still these odds
remain the same, still ever the sallle is tlie znqolicy of this method of contention.
CO-OPERATIVE
ASSOCIATIONS
are oprn to the Same objcetion. They are but a
lcss openly ofl'cnsive way OF warrlug againsl the Capitalist. Let the labour of 200
men represent a capital of £2000, yielding in full work, say ten per cent a wcck,
or twenty shillings a meek for each sllareholder. The ~ i v a Capitalist
l
is wortl~
precisely the same. When work is slack the association falls short of very necessaries, while the capitalist l ~ a sonlj to discharge so mzny nlcn.
Lct that
particular branch of trade be ruined, and, ahile the capitalist taics his money
to a new venture, the combined workmen are scattered, and have each to learn
a new occupation. And again, as if these difficulties are not enough, the Law
takes part with the capitalist; hindering at every tnrn the most iegitilnate
partnerships of members. Doubtless nhen a cooperative association can succeed,
18
19
TEE ENGLISII R E P U B ~ I C .
TIIE ENGLISII REPUBLIC.
it is an immense advantage to the morkman; and here and there onc may
succeed under some specially favourable circumstances. B u t i t is folly t o suppose that with thc tren~cndousodds aqainst them they can ever be made t o beat
.the combination of capitalists and transform the condition of society.
T o contend or compete with the masters on any likelihood of general stlcccss,
the workmen must have capital. They can never acquire suficieitt capital under
the present system. So, like a horse in a mill, they go round in a vicious
circle. The o?z1?/hope lies in the State supphjing such c q i t u l as may he needed to
.redeem Znbourfiom the pr@t-nzoxyrrs. And the State will o,z(y do thzs when the
State shall mean t h whole People, when politictclpower shall he zn the ha?~rhof all.
'Conservative' Ministry: Aberdeen and the gang mhicl~owns bloobrelationship
with every Ruffian on the Continent, from Nicl~olasand King Bomba t o Szeia
and Louis the Last. Nice fellows for English Liberty!
Have we not also a 'Liberal' Party (lucus a non) ? the JIanchestcr &fen,
mho would liberally truckle to thc Devil for another thirty pieces of silver. I f
we could but have Cobdcn aud Company as a War Ministry to take care of
English honour, with Joseph Stlrrge for Commander-in-Chief, and Elihu Burritt
for Lord-High-Admiral-since our sailors prefer Americm service.
And our army. What do you think of the following samples of the material,
furnished by an ' Old Light Division Officer ' to the T m e s of Dec. 29, 1851 7
'The nrn~ymusltet is a clumsy inefficient weapon; it is impossible, eren when it is
fixed and fired from a stand, to calculate with any accuracy either on distance or direction.
Confessed/y it is not cficient 6eyond 160 yards
. . .
The
allowance of ball cartridge to each infantry soldier is only 30 rounds for a whole year's
practic~. It is the old story of our navy over again, with their short-range guns and
neglected practice, t5hich caused those untoward eventa at thc eorntnenceinent of the last
bnierienu war; and when WC see other European nations taking great pains to perfed
their infantry arms and slcill in the use of them, it is impossible to avoid the apprehension
that in the event of a collision
. . . : . . , . . .
'It has been calculated that of every 300 shots fired in action, not more than 33 take
effect. This against large compact bodies of men. But when the object is to pick off
individuals, .
. . . even the Cafies laugh at US.'
.
FOREIGN AE"PAIT1S.
WAR WITIT EUROPE: ALLIANCE TVITII A31ERICA.
a
L ~ R Yt o
God and to Napoleotl! So channt the clergy at Notrc-Dame,
in thanksgiving for seven millions of Frenchmen having voted themsclvcs
slaves,-coward
slaves of One too vile even for the Tinzes. Jesuitism
backs the Impcrial Scouudrcl; Pope Pius, rccollccting how he too received his
~ r o w n'from the blood-staiucd I~auds'of a ruffian soldiery, consistently sanctifies
thc bloody succeFs of 'the I f a n ml~omGod had sought.'
Austria is jubilant;
Picdmont crouches; Narvaez rcturns t o Spain. The Czar and thc Pope are
masters of the situation. T l ~ cout-posts of tlic Russian army (the French dctachment) are within two 1101irsof our coast; already thc cloven-foot is set in
Ireland ;" we are ordercd to turn out fhc Refugees. Another trick aud Dcspotism
plays his Icing of E'rencll IIcarts against England. TTTlrat game is ours?
W e have cxccllcnt cards. First therc is a Whig hrinistry, mhicli has just
washed its hands of Palmcrst,on, for having too soon or too openly applauded the
Dcccmbrist. A Alinistry that ncvcr did onc service t o European or English liberty ;
that perhaps now affects to b r e ~ kwith Palmcrston in order t o have in opposition a leader on whom i t can rely. Can atly honest stand be nlade against
Dcspotism by a Government of which the best that its apologists can say is that
' i t discreditably exists for want of a better.'
Thcu we have the alternative of a Tory, or rrdhcr (Bnrabbas drawn mild) a
"
a I t is now formal denuneiatiou of the 'godless colleges .' the Irish ordered by Napoleon's
Bishop of Itomc, 'to procure the withdrawal of youth.' Rel~gionsliberty, Mr. Bright!
li~izesLeader or Janaary 8. 'The very fceblost description of our present Ministerial
cffiric~icywould be apt to move a smile at the expence of the sixteen noblemen and
rrentlcmen that constitute the go\erument.'
"
.
I s this the way t o cope with the practised troops of France? I n the French
army are 14,000 sharp-shooters, every one of whom can pick off his man a t a
rlutatzce of G00 yards. And what numbers shall me have to meet the invaders ?
Ircland uncomfortable, the Caffres refusing t o be put down, and Russia backing
a11 overwhelming revolt in India: what regiments can we order homc?
The English Peoplc must fight thcu for their o\vn liberties. What, when you
will not even trust thcm with the franchise, will you arm thcm 'pro aris c t
foeis': for their altars and their hearths? The comfortless hcarths of ill-paid
Labour, and the altars of God knows what-some llideous Hudson-worship t l ~ a t
does not need a country. The English People must fight. But a t ho\r fearful
a disaclvantagc, united only by a common danger, untrained, undisciplined,
unused to arms. Yet they must fight, even in dcspair, cvcn though kindling t h e
heroic-firc of patriotism (so long extinct) from the ashes of the pillaged land.
Tllry will fight. And when arms are in thcir bands, let them not lay them down
till they have rid their country not only of the invaders but of the home-tyrants
also; till upon the fui~cral-pyreof Tyranliy they have lit such a beacon-flame i n
England as shall warm the hearts of patriots in the farthest European corner !
B u t what sort of struqgle is this coming upon u s ; and what, in sucll little
time as may intervene bcfore the battle is at our doors, ought we t o do in preparation for the worst? I f WC are t o measure strength with Europe, would we
do it unprepared? Or shall WC be recklcss whither we may be led, whether in
the evil day we buy our pcaceful share of bondagc by basc complicity with
TVrong, or speiid our blood and treasure t o purchase a new Trcaty of Vienna