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Leader (1850-1860), 3rd January 1857, Edition 2 of 2, Page 15

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      Southamptoniana. Southampton- Is, At Pre...

      aa & Amh & iws unfit and improper . WeotejDIN , therefore , is : the Premier ' s man , which will damage him with some people , and serve tmn with others . The question is , how & v ^ ¦ what right had M . r . TtAJSKB & TJ & R . to be so cajidid ? Did Lord Pjojvcejrstoit say :, " . That ' s my opinion of Mr . Aioxrews , and tell Mr . Anpbews I said sot" or did . be merely intimate confidentially that Mr . Andrews "was a coaehbuildery ana 3 MCr . "WEanELiN c a better

      sort of man , you see f In either case he was ¦ wrong : if . lie intended to influence the eleo ¦ tion , his interference was most uncalled for and improper ; if lie did not , the private utterance of his views explains how far he is grateful to his friends . The Southampton people will knowwbat vre mean . Then , as to Mr . Lankester , he should have been expelled from the meeting for daring to thrust forward such an observation .

      We cannot he mtpposed to care nmeh for the result of the election . ¦ Faetiously , we hope that Sir Heuhy Butleb will be kept out . Generally , Mr . ' Wecwelin , though his ballot enthusiasm is suspicious , might make a tolerable Member of Parliament . Locally , however , the excellent Mr . Anbbjews has every claim , and , if the upset price of Southampton were noij so unconstitutionally large , he should be our candidate .

      Jayttahy 3, Sss?.] $11 Luibiil 15 — "—-—...

      jAyTTAHY 3 , SSS ? . ] $ 11 LUIBIIL 15 — "— - —^_______^__^__^__________^^_____^___________^____________ _ _ .., „_ i „ ., . ..- ^^_

      Thackeray On The Georges. Hjo One Satiri...

      THACKERAY ON THE GEORGES . HJo one satirist is like another . The genius of satire is essentially centrifugal , and darts off to new aspects . If HoaJotTir could have written history , he Avould have given us such memoirs as Tiiackekay has supplied of the Georgian era , —sueh . as the first notion j yet we reflect that Hogi-abth , wonderful as a mirror of vice and mannerism , had no tenderness , no refinement , no literts hwmaniores , and we see that we libel Thackeray with a comparison which does not do justice to Ho & aeth . Volta-Ike might be the better parallel , but the biographer of the Oeorges does not exclusively bind his genius to the reductio ad absurdwm . He lias been taken to task for not treating of the history and politics of the era ; and in defence he dechores that he never attempted to do so ; but Low little the man knows himself ! He deals with the men and women of the day , — -their manners and customs , in court and company ,-= rtheir gowns aud coats , —and what are these but the politics of any day ?

      The lecturer exposes to us the inconsistencies of theory and fact . We made a king divine , and ascribed his elevation to Providence . The article failing in this country , partly for the very small accidents which really terminated the Stuabt line r we sent to Germany for a king , as wo do for Berlin ironmongery or Berlin wool ; and we got one . In those days , as Tn ^ CKEitA . Y says , noblemen carried the caudle to the king , and contended with each other for the honour of holding his

      shirt when he was pleased to thrust his head through the neck-opening thereof . And that king—that anointed whom the highest in tho land were glad to candle and ciothe—that ' D . Gr . ' was a vulgar fellow , who could not rise even to tlie conception of kingliness . He had subjects , and sold them , aa his descendant Geqkge III . sold sheep . Ho had mistresses , ' the Elephant' and ' tho

      Maypole ;* and , despising the protended loyalty of the Euglish , he retired to tho realities and substantial delights of life , bonnes fortunes and beer ! The very divines who would have put a common mortal upon tho cutty-stool , and railed at beer , elevated that same Gkoiigiq into an anointed whom it was treason and blasphemy to call in question . well , wo can despise that kind of conduct now , hecauso when wo look at pictures ol

      the Geobses and their subjects , we see them in queerly-cut coats , ridiculous cocked hats , preposterous ruffles , breeches and stockings that exposed , -without setting forth the leg . The gravest statesman of that day is to our eyes a 'figure of . , ' and we can , laugh at the pantomime pomps of holding ; the candle or the shirt .

      Yet , as TaiACHEBAY remarks , the vice -is our own still . At the opening of the Crystal Palace , noblemen consented to walk backwards for a mile , and prided themselves cm coming featly down the stairs of the royal dais without stumbling . Half of the magnificence which rules the day is silly ; and , being silly , is vulgar ; and Thackero : makes -us see it in undress . "

      The influence of his satire is limited , because he speaks ahove the heads of tie vulgar . In a country town , a I £ e : nb , y Tor- < cent will carry away the multitude , who can see nothing in THACKEBA . 'y . 'fc grave and quiet statements of incongruous facts . His lectures are those at which the audience must , in the veritable sense of the word , ' assist , by their own comprehension . He is a democrat more formidable than "Wat TtlXer , and yet he can only be listened to by the courtly and the refined .

      There is , however , a strong hold which the satirist has upon the multitude . Mostly the herd will raise to the highest places very poor creatures indeed—a Gteoege of Brunswick to wit—and for this reason v for your average m an , there is nothing higher than your average man . ' Genius' is eccentric ; the great statesman is before his time , or behind it '; the really sacrificing Christian is not of this world ; but the king that can go into stage-play dignities satisfies the average man in the invidious desire to set himself above his

      betters . If a man is cleverer , better , nobler , braver than John" Smith , Johut Smith sees that he recovers the vantage by proxy in the person of Mr . Smith , ' to whom John ' s betters will bow as they will to an idol . John ' s envious dislike of superiority is doubly tickled , by reflecting that the idol is after all nothing better than a very ordinary Smith ; so that

      the better , the nobler , the braver , and wiser are after all placed with their neck under John ' s foot ; and J ohn laughs at them for their folly , baser than his own stolidity . If , too , a GrEORGEl . goes in for beer and Elephants , ' does it not condone Coal-holes and such passages in unpublished memoirs of John Smith ? Ib repeals , as it were , those acts of Parliament which are made for " the better

      observance of the Sabbatb , " and which are kept up in front for the sake of appearances , but are bo little regarded behind the scenes ; and your average man is glad to find his ovn uneasy conscience set at rest by this grand illustration , on the sacred throne , in the pei'son of the anointed . Now , for taking us behind tho scenes , and teaching us the humour of the thing , there is no Cicerone like Thacke-JJ . A . Y—he is as good at the work as the '' Czar of Muscovy" in taking the Man of Feeling over the madhouse .

      Swiss Mebcenabies. If The Swiss Desire T...

      SWISS MEBCENABIES . If the Swiss desire to obtain , tho unreserved sympathy of the liberal populations of Europe , tboy will recal their mercenary troops from Naples ,, and the other states of Italy . They cannot entitle themselves a nation without fear and without reproach , until they cease to furnish the janissaries of despotism . It is not well for them to bo gathering on their mountains in defence of the principles of national liberty , while from twelve to fifteen thousand of their race , in Naples , wear the Bourbon livery and perform tho duties of Mamelukes and shine . The

      statue , of WitiiAM Texe-ought not to stand too near the effigy of an Asiatic mute . This is the moral inconsistency which gives so much power to Mania ' s appeal . But for the Siviss , freedom would have no home in Central Europe . But for the Swiss , ' despotism would not exist in Naples . The King ,, who inflicts on Milano eight hours of agony in his clianibre ardente near the Capuan gate , has a body-guard , of Switzer soldiers , who should be ashamed of their

      employment . It is true that they are volunteers , and that in 1848 and 1849 similar volunteers entered into the battles of the revolution in Italy ; but they are , at Naples , for t"h . e purposes of opjpresBiou only . The King cannot trust the national troops ; he must have aliens , cut off from all Italian sympathies , to do the work which , no Italian

      would do , upon the citizens of Italy . These men degrade themselves , and dishonour their country . In justice , it must T > e added iihat the Swiss Government has passed laws to check the mercenary system ; 3 ) nt ISTaples is a testimony to their inadequacy . An opportunity is now presented for the recal of the Neapolitan body-guard , and the outlawry of those Swiss to decline to abandon the

      licentious service in which they are employed . The mere existence of such a force is enough to justify an insurrection in . NapleB . But what is not justifiable , when the Commandant of the Swiss guard is the one man in the kingdom who does not fear the King , and who plays Tabqtjxn with no more chanee of punishment than an Egyptian Pacha ?

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      [Ik Tdrs Depaimtent. As Ait. Opinions, S...

      [ IK TDrS DEPAimtENT . AS Ait . OPINIONS , SOWBVEB JBXTBEHB , AltE ALLOWED AS ESLPKKSSION , THE BDITOB NECXSSARU . Y HOLDS H 1 MSELP EESPONSIB 1 E IOU NOSE . 1

      There Is No Learned Man But •Will Confes...

      There is no learned man but will confess he hath much profited by reading controversies , his senses awakened , and his judgment sharpened . If , then , it be profitable for him to read , wh . y should it -not , at least , be tolerable for his adversary to -write 1—Milton

      The Moon's Rotation. (To The Editor Of T...

      THE MOON'S ROTATION . ( To the Editor of the Leader . " ) Sir , —I have only just seen your paper of the 6 th of December . Allow roe to correct an inadvertency in my last letter . I should have said , ll I do not know that the moon , in revolving round tlie earth , ha 3 any relative and subordinate motion , " & c . I see John Taylor has detected this verbal inaccuracy , and , in exposing it , has explained what he meant by " the moon ' s relative and subordinate motion ; " namely , its motion along with tlie earth round the sun . I am sorry that , even with this in itself very lucid explanation , I am yet unable to understand what the moon ' s relative and subordinate motion has to do with the moon ' s rotation . John Taylor has confused his mind by tho use of the words " separate , " " independent , " " relative , " " subordinate . " The only question is , does the moon turn on its axis ? If it does , the motion by which it does so must be " a separate , independent , axial motion , " there boing no motion of the earth to originate , and no rigid bar connecting the earth with the moon to communicate , such a motion " relatively and subordinately . "_ John Taylor has plunged into a terrible quagmire in asking the quostion , " Can it bo proved that tlio moon turns on an axi 3 within herself ? " There I would leave him , reminding him , in parting , that the earth , while performing one revolution on its axis , moves ( roughly speaking ) 1 , 800 , 000 miles through space , arid that this motion , so far as the earth ' s rotation is concernod , might just as well describe the circumference as the segment of a circle . Thanking you for your courtesy , I remain , sir , your obedient servant , Wjixiam Kknwaihx ,

      The Scotch Franchise.—Tho Edinburgh, Mee...

      The Scotch Franchise . —Tho Edinburgh , meeting , in support of extending the Scotch franchise , has been a great success . Dr . Begg , tho leader of tho movement , waa present , and ho was supported in his arguments by Bailie Blaclcaddcr , Councillor G orric , Mr . D . M'Larcn , aud other loading citizens . Tho meeting unanimously affirmed , ns a principle , that " a man should be aa easily found by tlio State when rights aro to bo civjoyod as wlien burdens aro to bo borne . " If nothing elde is forthcoming , it is cloar that tho question of Reform must now bo raised in tho next session of Parliament by tho Scotch members . —Morning Star .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 3, 1857, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_03011857/page/15/