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    1154 THE LEADER. [Saturday,

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    SLAVE LAW IN NEW YORK. Mr. Lemmon was a ...

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    NATIONAL DEFENCE. Whatever else the Derb...

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    . PRUSSIAN OPINION OF BRITISH MILITIA. S...

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    Address From The "Ladies" Of England To ...

    alluded to was peculiarly distressing to her sex . She proposed to form a general committee and a sub-committee to transact the daily business . The memorial was adopted , and the committees appointed . The ladies present were , tlie Duchesses of Sutherland , Bedford , and Argyll ; the Countess of Shaftesbury , Lady Constance Grosvenor , Viscountess Palmerston , Lady . Dover , Lady Cowley , Lady Ruthven , Lady Bellhaven , Hon . Mrs . Montagu Yilliers , Hon . Mrs . Kinnaird , the Lady Mayoress , Lady Trevelyan , Lady Parke , Miss Parke , Mrs . Owen , Mrs . Carpenter , Mrs . Buxton , Miss Buxton , Mrs . John Simon , Mrs . Proctor , Mrs . Binney , Mrs . Holland , Mrs . Steane , Mrs . John Bullar , Mrs . D . Grainger , Mrs . Sutherland , Mrs . Mary Howitt , Mrs . Hawes , Mrs . Dicey , Miss Trevelyan , Mrs . Milman , Miss Taylor , Mrs . Macaulay , Mrs . Robson .

    The ladies whose names follow signified their concurrence : —The Duchess ( Dowager ) of Beaufort , Marchioness of Stafford , Countess of Derby , Countess of Carlisle , Lady John Russell , Countess of Litchfield , Countess of Cay . , Viscountess Ebrington , Viscountess Melbourne , Lady Atherton , Lady Blantyre , Lady Dufferin , Lady Easthope , Mrs . Josiah Conder , Hon . Mrs . Cowper , Lady Clark , Lady Buxton , Lady Kaye Shuttleworth , Lady Inglis , Mrs . Malcolm , Mrs . Seeley , Mrs . Lyon Playfair , Mrs . Charles Dickens , Mrs . Murray , Mrs . Charles Knight , Mrs . Marsh , Mrs . Champneys , Mrs . Rowland Hill , Mrs . Alfred Tennyson . [ Lady Kaye Shuttleworth denies that she authorized the use of her name . Lord Shaftesbury has published passages in her letter to him , which certainly imply her concurrence in the objects of the meeting . " !

    Several letters have appeared in the Times respecting this meeting . An Englishwoman points out , that it would be better for the ladies of England to prevail on the ladies of America to eradicate that feeling which impels all classes to insult , scorn , and revile all who are tinged with African blood , than to pass addresses against slavery : — " Slavery is an institution — a detestable one I fully admit ; but it must be dealt with as an institution . But colour , race , blood , are not institutions—th ey ^ are subjects , not for legislation , but for sympathy and antipathy ; they fall into the domain of feeling—the domain over which women reign paramount . "

    The wife of Academicus shows that the protesting ladies wear cotton in all shapes , the produce ~ of slave labour . " R . -G-. D , " says the American ladies will bid our aristocratic agitators " look at home" and ameliorate the condition of the London poor . And Lady Shuttleworth says— " So long as American women can justly taunt the women of England with the neglect , ill-usage , and starvation payment of the lady teachers employed in their families , there is little hope of their listening to our protests on the subject of slavery . " It must be understood that all these writers heartily denounce the abomination of slavery .

    1154 The Leader. [Saturday,

    1154 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,

    Slave Law In New York. Mr. Lemmon Was A ...

    SLAVE LAW IN NEW YORK . Mr . Lemmon was a slave owner in Virginia . Last month , desiring to go to Texas , he set out for New Orleans , via New York , going by sea to New York , and expecting to transfer his property and Inn wife ' s slaves to a steamer . However , lie landed them , and they were claimed as free . The cn . se was brought into court , and on the Kithinst ., Judge I ' ayne delivered his decision in the case of eight slaves who claimed their liberty on the ground that they had been taken into New York by their master , by which act they had been made fiee . The case ciune to an issue under a writ of habeas corpus issued to the respondent , Jonathan Lemnion , whe claimed the coloured persons as the . slaves of his wife , and demanded that they should be delivered up to her on the ground that she bad been their owner for several years past , she being a resident of Virginia , a slavuholding State , and that by the constitution and laws of that State they had been and still were bound to her service as slaves ; that she was now , with her said slaves , in , transit ' it- from Virginia to Texas , another slaveholding State , by the constitution and lawn of which she would be entitled to the slaves and to their service ; that she never had any intention of bringing them into the State to remain or reside , but was passing through the harbour of New York on her way from Virginia to Texas , when she was compelled by necessity to touch or land , without intending to rejuain longer than was necessary .

    After detailing portions of the evidence , his Honour read the following section of the act under which the ciiko came : — " Any person , not being an inhabitant of thin Slate , who nball be travelling to or from or punning through this Stale , may bring with him imy person lawfully held by him in slavery , and may lake micli person wil . li him from thin Mate ; but the person no hold in slavery shall not reside or continue in Ibis Stale imiro than nine montliH , iind ii Hitch rosideneo bo continued beyond that time , mieh poraon shall bo free . " Such wan and had always been tho law of tlua Btulo , down to tho your itMl . Tho Legislature of that

    year passed an act amending the Revised Statutes , in the following words , —viz .: — " The 3 rd , 4 th , 6 th , 6 th , and 7 th sections of Title 7 , Chapter 20 , of the first part of the Revised Stattttes are hereby repealed . " The sixth section of the Revised Statutes , and that alone , contained an exception , which would have saved the slaves of the respondent from the operation of the 1 st section . The Legislature , by repealing that section , and leaving the 1 st in full force , have , as regards the rig hts of these people and of their master , made them absolutely free ; and that not merely by the legal effect of the repealing statute , but by the clear and deliberate intention of the Legislature , ft is impossible to make this more clear than it is by the

    mere language and evident . objects of the two acts . It was , however , insisted on the argument that the words " imported , introduced , or brought into this State , " in the 1 st section of the Revised Statutes , meant only " introduced or brought" for the purpose of remaining here . So they did undoubtedly when the Revised Statutes were passed , for an express exception followed in the 6 th section , giving that meaning to the 1 st . And when the Legislature afterwards repealed the 6 th section , they entirely removed that meaning , leaving the 1 st section ,

    and intending to leave it , to mean what its own explicit and unreserved and unqualified language imports . " Not thinking myself called upon to treat this case as a casuist or le gislator , " continued the judge , " I have endeavoured simply to discharge my duty as a judge , in interpreting and applying the laws as I find . them . Did not the lawseem to me so clear , I might feel greater regret that I have been obliged to dispose so hastily of a case involving such important consequences . My judgment is , that the eight coloured persons mentioned in the writ be discharged . "

    The eight persons were then placed in coaches by Louis Napoleon ( the coloured man who had demanded their release ) , and driven off amid great cheering and waving of handkerchiefs from the coloured persons present . This case is of great importance , as it may probably determine future cases . For instance , Illinois , a free State , is projected southward between portions of Missonri and Kentucky , slave states . A narrow slip of Virginia extends northwardly beyond the back of the State , between Pennsylvania and Ohio . The ordinary line of land travel between Missouri and Kentucky is across Illinois . The ordinary travel between the point of Virginia referred to and Kentucky is by way of the Ohio river , in boats that stop at ports in Ohio . Will the slaves passing over these" ordinary routes be held to he free ?

    National Defence. Whatever Else The Derb...

    NATIONAL DEFENCE . Whatever else the Derby Ministry may do they seem disposed to provide for the defence of the nation . Some important annouueements have this week been made by the Times and the Herald on this subjectthe former having the priority of information . First there is to be an increase in THE NAVY . " The public will learn with great satisfaction that the Government has resolved to call upon Parliament to vote the necessary supplies for a considerable addition to tho naval forces of the country . It is not , as wo have frequently had occasion to remark , in the number of her Majesty ' s whips of war that our chief deficiency is to bo traced , and probably there never was a time ot peace at which ainoro powerful naval armament could be equipped for sea . But the most essential condition of our maritime strength is a body of well-trained seamen to man those vessels , and to contribute to the defence of our coasts . The commission which has been sitting for some tirno past to consider tho best means of manning the * navy , has adopted several valuable suggestions from officers whoso judgment and experience may be relied on ; and wo presume , that it is in coiiKcquciif- 'o of these recommendations that the

    Government and the Admiralty have resolved to add about 6000 Heitmen to the fleet , with a proportionate * addition to tho Marines . It would bo an error to attribute to thifl measure a greater degree of political importance than it deserves , and although it happens to correspond in point of time with tho proclamation of tho . French Empire , there- in probably no direct connexion between tho two incidents . . Hut wo cannot be ignorant , that an extraordinary degree of activity has prevailed for nomo time past in tho dockyards of our most powerful neighbour , and that while somo show has boon made of a reduction in tho I'Venoh army , tlio navy of that country has been augmented loan unprecedented extent . To place our own protective : forces on ot leant an equal footing , is , therefore , tho first duty of the Ministers of this country , and wo aro satisfied that the nation will gladly respond to a call which does not : exceed what our pacific policy ami our territorial security absolutely require . "

    Thin appeared in tho Times on Monday ; on Wednesday tho Herald supplied the figures to the fuct . s of the Times announcement : — " Orders havo recently been issued to hasten tho preparations for commencing tho construction of I ho butteries in tho Mo of Wight , and to expedite tho works as much as possible . We underNtun < l that it . is proposod in tho now estimates to add to tho present strength of tho Royal Marines 1500 men . We stated some time since that tho naval forces of lOngland would include ton screw lino-ofballle whips . Wo hnliovo that , boforo this limo noxt , yoar wo shall havo double this number of two and threo dockers propelled by screw machinery afloat . Messrs . Perm and ( ! o ., and Messrs , Maudsliiy and Field , aro ordered to eon-Mtrucl . Hcrow machinery for eight of tho lino-of-battlo whips in courac of convention . "

    Secondly , we are to have an addition to THE AETIILEET . " Yet it is upon the Artillery we must mainly relv fi » the speedy destruction of an invading force . To reroa this defect in our preparations , orders have iust been i Ji , ^ for the enlistment of 6000 additional artillerymen ar / riI f 2 the purchase of 1000 horses , winch are to be exclusive ^ appropriated to this branch of the service . Nor is this all Vigorous measures are in progress for the construction of so many carriages and ammunition wagons as may be re quisite for 200 field guns . At the present rate of prena " ration these batteries will be read y for service by the latter end of winter , or early in the spring ; but if any greater expedition were necessary , the time of preparation could be very materially shortened . This is a portion of tho military preparations which must not be postponed—for guns are not cast , nor carriages constructed , nor horses purchased , nor artillerymen trained , in a day . " The Times published this Tm Tuesday . The offences of the Herald , it is clear , have not been unmarked in . Downing-street .

    . Prussian Opinion Of British Militia. S...

    . PRUSSIAN OPINION OF BRITISH MILITIA . Some admirable remarks on military matters in England have been supplied by a Prussian officer to the Journal of the Prussian Army . His last communication treats of the newly-raised Militia , and his remarks on that body possess considerable interest , as those of a fair observer , critical enough , perhaps , on a force so new , but not prejudiced . We can see by them at least how we appear to others : —

    " With this Muitia no one seems to know exactly what is to be done . To the English , usually so practical , it is a subject of just astonishment , for a greater contradiction in itself , a more half-and-half force than the Militia , cannot exist . It is evident that the Government wished something more and something different , butftiust be satisfied with it for the present , since in time something useful -will certainly be made out of it . As it stands , no country has anything resembling it . It is not a national guard , for the men are enlisted , and receive bounty and pay , and are under martial law . Neither is it a reserve or landwehr r for in three weeks' exercise soldiers cannot be made ; , besides , it is only , for the present at least , for home service .

    What is it , then r I know only of one comparison to itour old recruits for the landwehr , a phase of our organization we have fortunately outlived . Of the thirty regiments drawn together in the different counties for drill , I have seen two , in Middlesex , and have brought away the conviction that the force will hot be left as it is ; for that the practical spirit of the people is a guarantee . The especial defect of the institution lies in the officers , for the men are good strong fellows , short , determined in spirit , and yet willing . Only the drill sergeants and the officers who have been taken from the line know what they are about . All the rest it is almost grievous to look at . The officers are full of zeal for the service , but they do not succeed ; . nor will they till something very different is set on foot . "

    The remedy for this would be to give commands t retired officers of the army , instead of country gentlemen , or to afford as much encourageme nt as possible t o > old officers engaged in other branches of the state service to enter t ho militia , by securing them against pecuniary loss . There can ho no want of such men in England if they were secured a fair position . The Prussian landwehr is wholly officered by men who have served in the line , though but for the short term of a year ; we have the materials for a corps of officers of

    much greater experience ; but tho Prussian observer has not gone into the question of expense , on which all depends . He thinks the infantry exorcise too complicated , and that some of the positions are useless , judging by the Prussian standard , which is , however , a veiy good one ; and praises the forbearance of the commanders , who limit the marching drill to what is absolutely necessary for forming line and changing front ; ho counts up a whole list of evolutions required in the field which tho recruits are wisely spared for the present .

    Ho then continues : — " When I say that in time something very different wilt , bo made of this militia , I givo not my own opinion only , but that , of many experienced English officers . On « ini ™» alono is required to effect it- a national excitement vl soinj kind : a distinct tin-cut of « n invasion , much more the iw . iu attempt , would do it . What no onn ( a few olbccr * « - cei > ted ) will now recognize in tho militia , would then m seen : and what is hero called into existence rs not » . easily given up as in other countries ; tho enthwMiw '" the nation would then bo fixed . "

    Ho mentions many of tho different proposals made for tho improvement of tho militia , and tllt ! H "' sketched for giving it permanent occupation ; he thin * they all prove , the existence of u general feeling t" ' the " Com ? contains tho material of a body ihat >» ay hereafHer do good service . In the equipment ho im nothing to praise ? : — , -. ... irjn " The eye of a Prussian officer cannot accustom ^ .. h ^ the uniforms , which sit , on tho men like sacks 1 i of culling thorn tolho sbapo of tho human body hi s ' been entertained . Thousands of coats aro mi « pattorn and number , and served out by a gu «* H "'« ,, / Tho result is ludicrous , mid deprives tho men ot the ""' like bearing and apnoaranco tho « 1 " » »» tf * XuiogV them ; l , ut m tho local papers all is mUntmU » " ^ J ?^ The citizens of tho provincial towns in wl < J » «» " ^ moula uro drawn together admiro , above all twiifc ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 4, 1852, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_04121852/page/6/