CHRIST CÆSARTNAPOLEON

NZ Truth, Issue 406, 5 April 1913, Page 1

CHRIST CÆSARTNAPOLEON

No. XVlll.

The "Splendour of Goa,? that must "unfold itself from the heart of this huge Democracy, if it is not to perish, that shone m William the Conqueror, and the fealty of his Normans, m bdward the Third, and the chivalry of his English, m. the Earl of Chatham, and the patriotism of. a -whole nation, may re-kindle m the devotion, discipline, and self-sacrifice of a V n J ted Empire, m their love of right and justice, and In the resolution and determination that < this Imperial nation, which is the mother of -constitutional liberty and progress, shall be preserved inviolate m strength and m peace to . rear her offspring into manhood. And; If "fighting must super-add Itself as an accident," it shall bo their duty not to withstand blows ob beist they may, but to impose their will upon the enemy. But let the statesmen teach the people that numbers, training, and organisation are, m war, as essential as courage and high purpose, and, when tho people respond as they responded to the qall> of William Pitt, as . they will respond to the call of every great statesman who believes and trusts them, they will, as they have done m the past, make every sacrifice that may bo required of them to safeguard the honour and' interests of the Empire. — From an article lentlUed "Tho I^and Forces of the Crowh: Past, Present, and Future," published In the "Edinburgh Keview" for October, 1909. Let us stay for a while to look at tnore closely, to- analyse, historically iuid metaphysically, the ;|rrionslroußly misleading and morally; 1 mischievous memories and incidents which this . egregious Edinburgh Ttoyiewer recalls m order to arouse the dormant blood-lust of Britons. The "Splendour of God" that shone m William the Conqueror was the lurid light of hell. Tho conquest of England was begun by Tho Bastard m iniquity, persisted m under a pious Christian fraud practised upon Harold, the legitimate Saxon King, und carried out by force and fraud, and the ferocious fealty of his Normau, French, and Flemish freebooters, and , consummated m crime,: cruelty, rapine, and robbery. William 1 the Conqueror died a miserable, brokenhearted, deserted, and disappointed •jfe mac— charitable Christians say "by P? ; the just judgment of an offended a«d iivengmg God." . • ' •.»._■■ ■',■•■ The "Splendour of God" that uhono upon tbe doings Of Edward 1., suraamed "Tho Greatest of thoPlantagenets." as he most assuredly was —and of whom the Edinburgh Hoviower may have boen thinking when ho \vroto "lidward the Third"— only aerved to mako plainer to Englmh and Scots, and to the Welsh and tho French, as well as to the far-oa j 3arncons of the Holy Land, tho | turpltudo. tyranny, antj tTeachery of this great Christian cut-throat and cutpurse. In tho glorious lipht of the "Splendour of God," Edward . "damned his name to everlasting fame." • ,•■■•." I This Edward made himself immor- i tally infamous by bis" usurpations and wars against tho Scots ; his murder, or ruthless, heartless execution, of the gallant Wallace ; his cruel, crafty treatment of thi» weak end wavering David Dallol ; his merciless marauding* and massacring* of the Welsh ; bis outrageous executions of tho Welsh patriot Princes. 0>« Llewellyns; his repeated attempts to Ignore uml nullify Wngna CharW,; and by many other 'equally wanted end wicked crimes. -Ho, too, dietf <i miserable death, as thu conuiflteuflj/ charitable Christians «aid, l>y "t-lte will of an offended and angry God/ * * • I As to Edward 111., this is tWa wretched king from whoso regftl finger hl» prostltuto paramour, AHqo Pcrrors, filched a valuable ring aalAa lay dying.. Tho Britf-

tdnica" says of -him ,:'—--. The splendour of his reign belongs properly rather to the people than to the monarch. Both m his home and foreign relations, .he showed conslaerablo prudence and 5 sagacity, ami ho may be allowed the merit of having endeavored as much as possible to keep on good terms with his subjects; -but under him the progress of constitutional reform Afas due either to his i , money difficulties or to events entirely beyond his control. Although endowed with high courage and daring, there is no proof that ho possessed more than average ability as a general. His expeditions were planned on a scale of great magnificence, . but he entered on hly campaigns without any definite aim, .and his splendid victories were mere isolated achievements, won partly by good fortune, but chiefly by the valour of Welsh, and Irish yeomen, and ' the skill of English archers. •; . . '• ■ ■"■ '• ■ • "■ The ♦'Splendour of God M that shone on the pious Protector, Oliver Cromwell, the greatest Englishman England . has ever seen, and greater than any of tbe great Englishmen England is evor likely to see again, to-day is a memory of evil to many of his countrymen, and the ..sign and sound of a curse m Ireland; Tho courage and capacity of Cromwell, while saving his name to fame, have not preserved it from obloquy. "In his lifetime, ho was dreaded and detested by most of his countrymen ; going m fear of his life, dogged by assassins and surrounded by spies ; dying a miserable, disappointed man, half m doubt of his soul's salvation; and, after death, denounced as v humbug and hypocrite, • ■ •. • ♦ "■ Tho "Splendour of God" that illumined "the Puritanism of Mb Ironsides" d»d not bring about tho Millenium, or establish the reign of King Jesus on earth. On the contrary, it made of piety a pretence for the perverse, arid a pretext foi tho scoffer ; and ' overturned the Commonwealth, bringing back tho base," degraded Stuarts, with Ihoir swarms of French prostitutes and panders m" their train. Puritanibm put back the liberties of England three hundred years, by paving the way for the infamous Four Georges and the wrotched Williairi i,V. Such wore some of tho results of the ".Splendour of God" shining on Old Noll and his push of valiant Wowser Warriors, half of wh.6111 were parsonical punks and psaim-slhgiTig snufilebusters ; tho other half,- ' '/'holy ■ hypocrites and howling humbugs, "who mado things sacred scandalous m the oyos of tho scorner, tho» very name of piety to stink m the, nostrils of sano' people, Tfc^'Splcndour of God" that Is supposed to havo lit up tho characters and conduct of tho tf-'o Pitts did' tiotthor of them good sor\«ico m reputo With ' posterity. ■ Tho one was a confirmed mnclmon, tho other a chrome drunkard and spendthrift. Thn "CJrcat Earl of Chatham." ns tho <$der Pitt Is gcncnilly, and somo- [ whati sycophantly, style*'., was really • "oh mafi'aa a Starch hare." Me was i n man of groat genius, but, like \ most masterful madmen of his type, ; was a fcully and a mountebank. Ho j appeared on tho public stuge during I the regime of that great master and muzzier of men, Sir Robert Wajpolf. Undoubtedly Walpolo was the wisest awl ablest Prime Minister Britain has over seen since the Oays of CarriUutJ Wolsey and Pnrllrimentary pt^ritan Pym. the real executioner of that shifty shuffler and light-hearted liur, Charles tho First. • * ■ * The difference between Wnipole and Pym was thia : Pym stvnm with the rising tide of revolt and rebellion,

skilfully steering between the political rocks and sectarian shoals with ; which his Parliamentary course was made difficult and'perilous. Walpole, oh the other hand, had to hold the helm m a 1 stormy seaway, and against the rising tide of reaction m favor of Jacobitism, behind which could be seen, stealthily stalking m the shadows, the spectre of Jesuitism. Even more than Bismarck at a later day m another land, but con--fronted by similar political perils, and religious reaction, did "Walpola 1 deserve to be designated '"The Pilot? that weathered the Storm." Later m England, after Walpole had gone to his rest, this honorific designation) was bestowed upon the younger Pitt to that most slobbery and service ol all sycophants, George Canning,, 4 sort of anti- Jacobite jingo, whose only claim to notice is. the paltry ; one of having strung together a few political partisan jingles, pandering to the Brunswickian . dynasty^, of i sexual brutes, immoral blackguards, and morbid madmen, at a time when Jacobitism, or public sentiment m favor of the restoration of the Stuart dynasty, showed signs of reviving. ■■ '' : '. ■; " i ■ ' ■ ;'.: ■ ";.■ .- ■■•••.• ; ••' .'•"•■ . ' ■■'.». ■'.'.• This Canning was born and bred a ponderer and snob. He was the, son of an actress, who sacrificed herself and her sou l to have the wherewithal to educate her family— which her position and poverty ought to have forbidden her to have. Canning was a clever, conscientious sort of chap, and soon, by ds|it of degrading huxiself to doing !tne dirtiest of dirty political work> '■••t«can»sd|R^: cognised as a veritable Hanoverian Uriah Heap. ."'"s'"-■ ' -. . ■ '■'•• L ; •:■ •'.. ■' ■ ■•• •■• ,-■ .f Without a doubt, this pauperous partisan and cringing cadger, Canning, chiefly known to fame or. infamy, by Ms jingles m tho "AntiJacobin," of "The Needy Knife Grinder" type, was one of the most cowardly, callous, corrupt, and contemptible ruffians that ever ramped, reptile-iiko, before royalty, and | wealth, and influence, lot place, power, and pay — pretty much as some of the 'more prominent Liberal and Labor Lickspittles m Austra> lia to-day are cringing and crawling before Plutocracy .and th© ;Plutish Penny Pimp Press. Canning was the 'forerunner, the prototype, the fine and finished example of the melancholy, mendacious mediocrities which, like lice, have fastened, upon Liberalism and Laborism, and are degrading and devouring them. These truthful tributes to the real character of this Canning will be substantiated by a statement of the wtiole truth, and nothing but the truth, m a special article to bo published m a near future issue. ■■* " * To turn again to Walpole, and the two Pitts, father and son. 'Walpole. was tho great Whig Minister w}bio withstood Jacobite and Jesuitic intriguers, who were forcing on the war with Spain, and wished to bring m the ■ Stuart Pretender. 'Walpole was the Minister who saw the country through the South Sea Bubble swindle ; who knew and declared that every political "patriot" had his price. Ho was tho samo man who. when the war with Spain was brought about by his enemies after his fall from office, ' amid bonfire burnings/ church boll ringings, and mad mob Mafttcki rigs, cynically remarked, "They may ring the bells now; they will bo wringing their hands beforo long," a prophecy' which tho course nnd ultimate consequences-, of tho war" fulfilled. * • '■' • : Wai polo was the sagacious statesman who wisely and moderately directed British policy when Pitt entered Parliament as member for tho "pocket" ■ or rotten- borough of Old Sarum t through tho influence of tho money of his father, an Indian Nabob who had "shaken tho Pagoda Tree" to tho tuno of a million or two sterling, and brougiit from India to England the eclobrated Pitt Diamond. Waljjolo soon had Pitt's nieosuro. Pitt, who had been rv short time" m tho Army, as soon as ho entered the House of Commons, jolnod Walpoie's anemlcs. Walpole shrewdly summed him up m tho remark, "That fiery young cornet of Dragoons must bo muzzled." And muzzled ho was, soon and effectively enough, for Walpole's purpose Pitt, too, like most patriots then, as now, had his price. There was no moro of tho real "Splendour of God" about tho futuro "Great Commoner" and Earl of Chatham than there was about his corrupt, but less capable and conscientious contemporaries, or than there Is about tho average Australian paid patriot of to-day. ■■>■•• . ■ • .'.•.'. Admitting that Chatham deserved the proud desJsrnatfon o( "Tho Great Commoner," and that he raised his country from a : degraded position of absolute Insignificancy, if not of actual Impotency. m the comity ol nations, there arc other admissions to bo made, which detract from, it ] they do not actually tarnish, his glory. Me advocated war with nn eloquence nnd energy seldom sur- ' passed, oven m the palmiest clays of ■ Orook nnd Uoman patriotic oratory.-} Ho curried people, J*nrHnment, and i King with him along the irrwistiblo | ' tido p( his burning eloquence ; and I

overwhelmed opposition m torrents of vehement invective, supercilious scorn, and scathing sarcasm. He was equally great as an organiser as he was as a promoter of war. Success crowned his policy • the national enemies were defeated on land and sea, and their Colonial Possessions added to the British Empire. '.■■■• * .*: ■■',■ War was Chatham's forte- ;> 'in 'war his genius literally revelled-. But Chatham really did love his country with a true, disinterested love; he well earned his peerage and his pension; but, m earning- them, he left his country a legacy of Imperial burdens which she was ill able to beer, and of which international distrust and detestation of Britain were J by no means the lightest to, then, bear, and, since then, to be borne with ever-increasing difficulty and danger. The conquest of Canada wag more than countervailed by the subsequent loss of the North American Colonies (the United , States ) ; while the exhausting Napoleonic wars wero, m part, attributable to Chatham's splendid filibustering policy, of which, indeed, they were the after-math,-as we shall see m the* sequel of this series of articles. Yes, Chatham was a Great Commoner, : but h© -was not a great statesman, m tho sense of being capable in' peaceful administration, and m constructive policy. He was "a glorious gasbag",- a rhetorical ranter; an ornate orator; an admirable actor • a Parliamentary'pyrotechnist ; ..■.. and, comnational apathy ) ana;; party corruption, ho was a;' veritable patriotic portent, flashing liko a meteor across the political sky, compelling attention, and inspiring hope. Chatham was all these; yet lacked he the one tMng needful— self-control and discretion, tho two indispensable essentials to constructive statesmanship. ■ ' • , • •' • • v «'••.-.-■ Besides this lamentablo lack, Chatham also lacked mental ballast; Like many other men of great talent of his peculiar type, Chatham, at times, was more than half-mad. Madness ran m the family, derived from the maternal side. Lady Hester J-ftan-hope, his grand-daughter^ was mad, j aa shown m Kinglake's account, 'm .' "Eothen," of her absurd aberrations and antics m Syria, where she sought to set up as a sort of Sultaness,, or seer,, among the Arabs of tho Lebanon. Chatham's second son, William Pitt the Younger, was at times partially mad, his madness being of the drunken sort, for he was little better than a, distinguished dipsomaniac—a brilliant bopzer— a, type (

,of the guzzling genius, of which history affords numerous examples. ' ■' ■ . :• '■ .■'.•■■■ " • v.. . k An attempt has been made to show that Chatham's insane eccentricities were due to the gout. It may have been, for Chatham, like his son, was a most persistent and 'potent, poculent and cibarian performer; his port-wine performances, though not so prodigious as his celebrated son's, were positively portentous. Gout is a symptom of high living and hard drinking ; and physicians and alienists to-day assert, with wide scientific generalisations in> tha pathology of mental disorders to support them, that gout is often- an indication of incipient insanity, and equally as often a concomitant of mental disease. Gout, indeed, is often an indication of the perversion of genius, as is pointed out by Havelock Ellis m "A j Study of British Genius. 't That Chatham was sometimes "of! his dot," his strange conduct both m and out of office goes to prove. Sometimes he would not see or consult with^Jhis Cabinet colleagues for weeks, and months together. At one, time he shut himself up alone for a whole year, m a small single room, m a big, dreary, deserted house, still standing on the border of Hompstead Heath. He saw nobody, neither child nor relative, friend nor acquaintance, colleague nor attendant, during the whole time. Even the single attendant who waited on him never saw him, but had to hand m his meals, and other necesparles, •through a small hole or trapVdpor, tfpVratfed- iri-tf* vv'eli*' of; ;- ■$$ 'ifrodin; Not niuch of the of[God" m this ; nor m the fantastic^ impulse that. drove Chatham to t^ke to tree-planting at night by lantern light on his estate of Hayes, bequeathed to him by an anonymous and to him unknown admirer. So far from there being even a slightest gleam of "The Splendour of God" about this m<iserable mddness t it seemed to be rather the outcome of diabolical dementia begotten of BeelzebuD. ! . ' *'■*. ' Next weok wo shall deal further wit,h this "Splendour of Gbrf '' and show how it shone with a lurid lickerish light on the character of Chatham's swiper of a son, Wm. Pitt, Junior. , . JOHN NORTON. DonleU's Imperial Hotel, Brisbane, , • Wednesday, »' ■ Maroh 19, 1913.