CHAPTER XII
Panizzi and Austria; Policy of Palmerston; Mr Ellice; Scotch Sabbath; Mr Gladstone on Tasso; Panizzi and Thomas Carlyle.
Panizzi’s correspondence with the sketches drawn from it and from that of the society with which he was connected, will now be continued, for from these is to be derived his private opinion on various subjects, and no doubt can possibly be suggested as to this course furnishing irrefragable proofs of his real sentiments. Miscellaneous as are the matters of which these letters of Panizzi treat, it is not surprising, considering the disturbed and eventful state of this period, that a large proportion of them relate to politics, to which he was so irrepressibly addicted. The following to Mr Haywood and Lord Rutherfurd, contain the comments of an acute observer of the unsettled state of government and of affairs in general in this country and in the East immediately before and after the Crimean War. It is to be wished that, in addition to skill and vigilance, the credit of impartiality could also be ascribed to Panizzi. The fact is, however, that, so deep was his dislike to Austria (scarcely to be wondered at), that it strongly tinctured his political views of affairs both at home and abroad. It will be observed also that he was less of a true prophet than a keen observer.
Herein, too, he gives his opinion of the policy of Lord Palmerston and other statesmen, showing very decided and biassed views of the course they would probably adopt, and venturing on surmises which, as events have proved, were not well grounded. They, however, are valuable, not only as clear expositions of his views on the subject, but as specimens of his open and undisguised style of writing, without fear or favour, when his own political ideas required elucidation:—
“B. M., July 25, 1853.
“My dear Haywood,
Here there is nothing new. There will be no war, as the Emperor of Russia will gain something. He never meant to get all he asked, now, at once, and will make a merit of his moderation. In five or six years hence we shall have another row, and he will get something more—and so on till he will get all he wishes. Time will come when England will repent her supineness. You think that to keep at peace ‘coûte que coûte’ is the high road to prosperity: I think it is ruin. I am reminded of the debtor who will not look at the state of his affairs boldly, and pay off: he goes on accumulating compound interest, till at last he finds himself ruined past redemption.”
Yours, &c., &c.,
A. Panizzi.”