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Jan. 4, i85i.] Cfrg ftga&et, f ii _
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A NEW "NO POPERY!" CRY. - Wfi are neithe...
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A FRENCH BLOODMAN. Fbw political scandal...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
1801—1815—1851. Progress Of The People. ...
Zffraace rejoicing under Louis-Napoleomsm , « NeohV ^ of-m y-Uncleiem . " At home we hava M all the great standard * of faith , the great Swarks of the nation , broken to pieces and ST away for ever . Whig constitutionalism , TtnredTo power , achieved its zenith in the heyday of LoM JoC RuS «^ , whose party abolished the domSon of orthodoxy by the repea of the Test fnd Corporation Acts and the Catholic Emancipa-Srtn Act The Manchester massacre paved the way ?• the Reform Bill , which Lord Durham and his friends composed , and Lord John Russell carried in Parliament , neither acknowledging the author who ffave it birth nor the great mass of the people who supplied the power for forcing it on the aristocracy The reign of ^^^" C l ± Jl
. ^ the reum oi Peel , whose greatest achievement was , not the enactment of Free Trade , but the final sanction given to freedom of discussion , and , therefore , to freedom of thought . Peel has gong ; but the time may still be said to take its character from his genius . We now look back with selfcongratulation at the contrast presented by the earlier years of the century , when religion , political action , food , and thought itself , were cramped by the iron grasp of Tory absolutism .
There is solid ground for congratulation . Although , when we look a little deeper , and ask what is the relative condition of the People , not only must we say that the condition Of the industrial class has not relatively improved so much as that of the classes who stand forward in front , wealthy and " respectable , " but that the improvements of the century , though in some respects they have reached all , in other respects have not reached the real body of the People , and in some even have rendered that condition worse . Bread was dear , the People were
poor , and there were handloom weavers in those day 3 . But the handloom weavers have since become more numerous and more abject ; and in those days of dearth we do nut read Of any social phenomenon so strange and so shocking as that of the needlewomen who belong to this day , the Jubilee of the century , fnTthose days the factory towns had not begun to rise ; and in the harder times of later years , still those districts were rising : are they any longer so ? In those days the country people were poor ; but a Poor Law had not been devised with the special intent of repelling them from asking aid . Landlords had not devised plans for sending the labourers off the fields ; and , what
is moie , the ill-used working man , whether in field , factory , or workshop , did not then know that he was ill-used—did not then know that he might have political power , certainty of labour , and nnlimnity from the pressure of taxation , if it were not withheld from him by the deliberate action of the State . Those things were so then , but he did not know them , and the contentment of ignorance was a substitute for the contentment of comfort . Even now the rural labourers do not know all what is withheld from them , but , by the blessing of God ,
they too shall be told . The political progress which has so much benefited the middle class in this country has done little more for the People , whether in England or in many parts of the Continent , than supply them with experience and larger ideas . The People helped to win the Reform Bill for the middle class , but have not yet obtained the suffrage for themselves . Hence the Chartist experiment ; an experiment which , as it was conducted , necessarily led to the failure in which it has virtually expired . That
Chartist agitation expired ; but as the rights of the People are still unsatisfied , as the Chartist convictions still hold together the elite of the J eople , it follows that the thing which was visibly embodied in the charter still " survives , still possesses the affections of the People , and remains to be strengthe ned with new experience and new councils . The Chartist experiment was a neceswiry experiment for the People , and of course it lias been lout upon them even less than it has been Jost , upon any other class . Government , indeed , inay think that it has crushed Chartism : but the i
eople have only gone ; through a severe experience t <> Hud out where lien the true life of Chartism . ' lie Chartism of Ireland , tho Repeal movement , which had far less soliil ground of policy or practicability , wa . i a hiss instructive experiment to that 1 eople . The cause , too , was complicated with the poverty which cairn ; to a climax with the famine of 4 7-9 , and ifc defended ho much upon the personal < "f « rtirtnH «» " O'Cormell that the remedial measures which the famine forced upon the rulers of Ireland , "J » l the death of O'Connell , have smothered the K « pntl movement without allowing its true meanln to appear . But even prosperity— that ia , l
fare after famine , has not smothered the spirit of the Irish People , and the English People know that they may count upon their fiery brethren across St . George's Channel—at a proper day *
Jan. 4, I85i.] Cfrg Ftga&Et, F Ii _
Jan . 4 , i 85 i . ] Cfrg ftga & et , f ii _
A New "No Popery!" Cry. - Wfi Are Neithe...
A NEW "NO POPERY ! " CRY . - Wfi are neither friends nor slaves of the Pope , though we decline the amusement of burning him in effigy , and protect against the injustice of mobbing the Bishop of Birmingham or slandering the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster . True , we do not , so clearly as our more Protestant con * - temporaries , see the difference between Tweedledum and Tweedledee ; ignoring , so far as we are personally concerned , the Queen ' s supremacy in
matters of religion , we do not think the Catholics guilty of treason for doing the same ; nay , we confess that in some important particulars we prefer the Archbishop of Westminster to the Bishop of London . Dr . Wiseman does not pick our pockets , he does not sit in the House of Lords to help to enforce church-rates and burial fees against Dissenters ; he hae not received a million or so of the public money , nor does he conspire to put down every place of meeting where any attempt is made to combine religion with freedom of thought .
But we hate Popery as much as anybody , whether it be Roman or Anglican , or Russian or Colonial . We Wish to put it down , not only in England , but all the World over , not excepting Rome itself , Where it is supported by French bayonets and fostered by English sympathy . But We do not fear it ; we would not take an unfair advantage of it , for we believe the only Way to vanquish it is to give it a fair field . In this
country the Weapons of Popery are purely spiritual ; they address themselves to the mind , not to the purse or the person ; it is of no use to remind us that it is otherwise where Popery is in power—it is not in power here . Unless the new Bishops are Cowards , of which no sign has yet appeared , the proposed attempt to make their assumption of titles a misdemeanour will enlist in their defence every lover of fair play and of religious liberty .
The true policy is not to shackle Roman Catholics , but to set Protestantism wholly free and then abide the issue . But the laws of this free Protestant country forbid it . He who wishes to enlighten his countrymen as to the absurdity of the Romish doctrine , that the sun is only six yards in diameter , must first pay a tax for his paper , a tax which practically doubles the price of the article , for it not only causes restrictions on the manner in which paper is made and brought into the market , but it has to be paid before the paper leaves the mill , and , if thousands of reams lie printed but unsold , no drawback is allowed . Contrast this with spirituous liquors , which may be kept in bond till wanted for sale .
The paper duty being paid , a duty of 18 d . is laid on every advertisement of the work in a periodical publication ; but this is not all , should an author desire to make his work at once attractive and useful by inserting news , and by adapting his remarks to the current topics of the day , he must get it stamped , or he is liable to a penalty of £ 20 on every copy , and all his printing materials may be confiscated to the use of her Majesty the Queen , who will scarcely , even in these Protestant days , set up a printing press in Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle to defend the " faith of our fathers . "
It in true that this last law is not enforced to the letter j but it is not the less mischievous : the uncertainty of the consequences of publication makes it impossible for any one to bring out such a penny weekly sheet as would be most instructive and intercnting to the working classes . Half the No-Popery pamphlets now circulated are liable to prosecution under the letter of the Newspaper Act ; but the Board of Inland Revenue ( a board more powerful in supporting darkness in England than the board of Cardinals ) sanctions in pamphlets that which if reprinted in slips from newspapers it would consider a flagrant breach of the law .
Against this system we raise our voice ; and cry No Popery with hearty good will . Somerset Houno is the Knglish Vatican . The Excise in our Inquisition . The Secretary of Stamps is to us worse than tho Pope . We know of no evil greater than the suppression of intelligence of which our Government arc guilty , and we intend for the future to devote a portion of our columns to attack it . For the present we content ourselves with drawing the attention of our readers to Home of the anomalies in the present working of the law us set forth in another part of our paper in an address to
the Chancellor of the Exchequer by our friends the Newspaper Stamp Abolition Committee . To this address , and to other documents about to be issued by the same body , Which will shortly appear in Our columns , we bespeak the earnest consideration of all who have at heart the spread of knowledge and the progress of truth .
A French Bloodman. Fbw Political Scandal...
A FRENCH BLOODMAN . Fbw political scandals have exploded so completely and So disgracefully to the originators as the affair of Allais . The story may stand in history as a striking illustration of our day , its manners and spirit . Not that lying spies like Allais have been unknown in other days—but because in this case the highest authorities are more or less implicated . President Bonaparte trifles with the National Assembly ] the National Assembly is jealous of the President ; both are playing a game of which General Changarnier is one object , popular influence being the stake . The President has his Prefect of
Police , M . Carlier ; the Assembly has its Commissary of Police , M . Yon ; and there is a rivalry between the two , especially on the side of M . Yon , whose position is the less established . M . Yon reports to the Assembly a plot to assassinate M . Dupin , its President , and M , Changarnier , its pet ; and as informer he produces Pierre Constant Allais . The trial is a ludicrous burlesque : Allais breaks down in every particular ; he had not even taken the Common pains to verify the accessories of his fiction—for instance , lie reports to seeing twentysix people in a place too small to hold them ; and his examination is a mere exposure .
The Times notices this very curious trial as one that " presents a striking contrast with our own customs in matters of police , and at the same time affords many striking illustrations of French character . " We do not see the striking contrast , nor the strikingly French character of the affair in its essentials . It is not so long since Dobbyn ~ was brought forward to give his nonsensical evidence against the Irish Leaguers , or Powell against the Chartists . The practice of opening letters intercepted in the Post-office has not long ceased to be among the stated duties of our highest officials ;
and to this day those who witnessed the . trials ¦ of the Cato-street conspirators arc still amongst us — nay , all the fellow-servants of Oliver and Edwards have not yet departed . Many would suppose that the use of blooodmen and such police manoeuvres are a peculiar growth of France , perhaps a Republican innovation ; but Englishmen who are not yet old can testify that the practice has declined with the decline of Absolute power . France , with all its backslidings , is leagues beyond the rule of the lettre de cachet ; and in Kngland we owe the new purity which makes the Times so boastful , to the Reform Bill and other freedoms which the working
classes won for the middle classes . We are less inclined to trace this bad police activity in Paris to the old practices of the Monarchy , than to a cause which is in some respects even more deplorable , since it can less be removed by combating it — we mean , a certain pettiness of spirit which seems to govern all society . It not only animates the miserable sort who are born base and mean , but
it rises even to public men on all sides . We ascribe it to the trading spirit which has given birth to the Utilitarian bigotry ot the day . Society can scarcely value anything that will not pay ; it is jealous of anything that in peculiarly noble or high-spirited ; it has learned to sneer at the chivalrous us " Quixotic . " It is blinded to that purer half of the satire in Don Quixote , which places nobleness , high faith , and generous purpose in the madman . In Fiance we have the opposite extreme to Don Quixote ' s : if we see a public minister dabbling in the business oi the hloodman . do we not see also tlic leadin ; . ;
statesmen of every party making patriotism than a trade , a gambling trade ; while tin ; President , over all , manuuiVn s to keep his post by truckling to all . It , is an aggravation ot this curse , thai , nobleness itself bus learned to abate its pride and to mistrust its own precedency ; owning a M > rt ot inauvais honte in presence , of 1 , ho moral . scepticism . Thus , we note such men « s Cuvaignac waiving tl eir own influence , and suffering their country to fall rather than ( nave the criticism of political r > lfickle higher . If France can exhibit a Yon > can we not also show a llawes , who has HO contrived to conduct his parliamentary duties as to create » n ini-
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 4, 1851, page 11, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_04011851/page/11/
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