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Leader (1850-1860), 6th January 1855, Edition 2 of 2, Page 15, Lambmt op an Ikish EairoitANT.—Mr. W. On...

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      Underbfeath The Christmas Table. The Law...

      utter hollowness of the whold affair ; but have we any reason to sneer , when the principles of economy thus illustrated are carried out all around us ? If paste returns the prismatic colours , is it not as chanpfliing as diamond ? If Anthony mil not sacrifice all for love , and think even the world well lost , unless he get a per-centage of 50 per cent ., does not the philosophy of the day inculcate the main chance as an object of care never to be forgotten , even by a Mark Antony ?

      At this particular season of the year we ought to be more than ever impressed with the increasing substitution of the spurious for * the genuine . There was a time when a Christmas dinner was as sterling as the sentiments that encircled the board ; and perhaps the comparison still holds good , although the viands are no longer what they once were . The hospitable board glitters with [ German ] silver . The soup that is first placed upon the table is thickened , though the careful

      housekeeper would not like to own it , with gelatine ; but the gelatine itself , which purports to be derived from birds' nests , sharks ' ribs , or some other rare and noble origin , is manufactured chiefly from the raw materials of the knacker ' s . The host palms off upon his guests gelatine and water for soup ; the grocer sends knacker ' s glue for gelatine ; and so the Christmas dinner opens . The beef , perhaps , is not meat of questionable principles from Spain ; the very requirements of size and colour demand that ifc should be

      English . But the mustard you eat with it is half turmeric ; and if the ingredients in the Christmas pudding are not all of them adulterated , the raisins have been parboiled to make them swell , and the spices defy detection . The -dinner is removed ; and " wine " is placed upon the table of various denominations ; but the keenest palates could not taste the genealogy . Independent of the

      vine disease in the district of the Douro is the " port'' upon the Christmas tableland the " sherry" knows less of Spain than of the neglected vintages in Italy . Yes , modern philosophy , enlightened by Liebig and the march of mind , gathers round the Christmas table to analyse the once sterling elements of theinatibnalfeast , ^ and ^ having " been enlight ened , eats on !

      Why should we blame the grocer , when we ourselves apply the same principles to subjects more refined than grocery ? Christmas is the season for vamping up reconciliations ; and many a party within the fortnight has been brought together on precepts of Christian forbearance , where the real motive has been some eye to the will of the offended party , some hope to get support for a favoured project . The spurious dinner is surrounded by a spurious Christmas party . The hilarity

      is as pure as the port , and the eye" beams with affection as brilliant to look upon as the paste diamonds in the head of the dowager ^ -substitutions for the paruro which is in pledge with the money-lender . Or go to public affairs , and the rule still holds good . A Peace Minister enters office to prosecute the war , and imay reconcile himself to consistency by reflecting that hostilities are so carried on as almost to render war as impossible as peace !

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      Lambmt Op An Ikish Eairoitant.—Mr. W. On...

      Lambmt op an Ikish EairoitANT . —Mr . W . Onrleton , the Iriah writer of fiction , announces that he is about to leavo Ireland for over , and to close the remainder of his days in Canada . Thin information , ho embodies in . tho following stanza : — , " Ungrateful country , I resign The debt you owe to me and mine ; My boto negleot—your guilt and nhamo—And fling you back your curse of fame . " Mr . Corleton has been for many years receiving n governntent pension of 2004 . per annum , as an acknowledgment ot hit literary merits .

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      Us This Department, As Ali, Opinioks, Ho...

      US THIS DEPARTMENT , AS ALI , OPINIOKS , HOUTEVBB ^ ITKEME , ABM ALLOWED AIT EXPRESSION , THE EDITOR JTECESBABUiT HOLDS H 1 M-8 J 5 LP RESPONSIBLE FOB NONE J

      There Is No Learned Man But ¦ Confess Li...

      There is no learned man but ¦ confess lie nath much profited by reading contrWerale & , his senses awakened , and his judgment sharpened . If , then , it be profitable for mm to read , why" should it hot ; at least , betolerablefor his adversary to ¦ writei- ^ Miixoir

      The Issue Of The War. (To The Editor Of ...

      THE ISSUE OF THE WAR . ( To the Editor of the Leader ^ December 20 * 1-854 . Sib , —I have reason to be surprised at the Times implying that it had not been calculated that an attack on the Crimea was an attack on Russia . Yet it was easy to learn that the Crimea is a peninsula , and not an island , and that Russia could send troops into the peninsula * As long as Russia was attacked on different points at once , success might be looked for in one place or another . Bat as soon as the whole attack was concentrated upon a single pointy there was little doubt that Russia -would harry all her disposable forces to that point , in numbers far superior to the total strength of the Allies .

      When the expedition to the Crimea took place , 1 concluded the operations were to be extended to the whole peninsula , or at all events that the Russian generals had been bought , so as to assure the success of a coup demain ; but as soon as neither the one nor the other of these hypotheses was realised , the enterprise became visibly not only difficult but even dangerous . ; If the allied fleets have done nothing , you must not expect to impose conditions-on Russia by a land force

      of 30 , 000 jnen—the actual active force of British troops in the Crimea , Napoleon the First , who knew something about the military art , did next to nothing with 700 , 000 men , thanks to strategical mistakes ; surely mistakes far more considerable are being committed now . In 1812 , Napoleon marched at all events into the heart of Russia , and only lost his . army for want of provisions . Now Russia is attacked at one extreme poinironly , and ~ already you pretend to impose conditions of peace !

      The taking of Sebastopol will never secure that result , and Sebastopoi is not yet taken ; all the letters received from the scene of operations agree in saying that it will not be taken . " unless we change the mode of attack . " * Canrobert is no strategist , the French themselves admit , and Lord Raglan has committed a succession of blunders . To count upon the Austrians is to reckon without your host . Austria is rather for Russia than for the ATUesVthe ~ ffepy ^ df ~ the "' 2 Ml ) f"Dece ' mber " pr ' ovide 8 ' only that steps shall be taken to obtain peace , and if unsuccessful , on dcoattra , not on se butlra . and here

      There remain Poland and Hungary , I must say that the revolution in those two countries has had chances of success : there have been armies , arsenals , munitions of war in Poland as in Hungary ; but at present the Polish youth are dispersed in the ranks of the Russian army . The country is so thoroughly disarmed that when a proprietor wants to have a fowling-piece he can obtain permission from the authorities only if his opinions are " sound . " It is much the same in Hungary . The Slavo-Magyar question is a double-edged question , and Russia is quite ready to " work" it for her own

      purposes . Taking into consideration the immense blunders that have been committed , and those that will be committed , I venture to express my opinion that a peace on the basis of the four guarantees would be a satisfactory result . I am , Sir , your obedient servant , The Author of " The Nations of Russia and toukkv , and their destinv . "

      Jung Bahadoor. (To The Editor Of The Lea...

      JUNG BAHADOOR . ( To the Editor of the leader . ) Sir , —Allow mo to point out an inaccuracy in last Saturday's Lender , on the subject of the Ncpaulesc armaments . You speak of Jung Bahadoor us if ho wore tho ruler of that aountry , whereas ho is no more than Prime Minister . It is true , indeed , that his power is greater even than that of his sovereign , but this circumstance is nil in favour of amity with tho English . During his residence in Great Britain , Jung was inspired with a profound admiration of everything- British , and was deeply struck with tho magnitude of bur power . Hb is , therefore , very unlikoly to adopt any measures calculated to load to hostilities j for—as ho himself remarked to Mr . Olinhant" though a cat when pushed into a corner will fly at an elephant , it w » U take good cure to keep out of tho corner as long as possible . " J- H .

      (Fii'ohi A Various Correspondence. ') — ...

      ( fii ' oHi a various Correspondence . ') — The world is delighted with the Queen ' s letter to good Mrs . Sidney Herbert ; the British world particularl y is happy , noticing that a Queen has feminine sentiments ; being surprised at that fact , and , sweetest discovery of all , that she underlines her phrases like a true woman , tfie loytd printers ~ acco * ai ingly scattering " italics" and capital letters in the newspaper copy with emphatic exuberance . The joy of Ensign Tomkins and private Jones when they find they are-part of a " beloved army "—be * lored , though trusted to blundering chief **—befoyedjthough individually perhaps objectionable , r exeegC

      sentrywise in a court atmosphere . But the letter in its delicious , impulsive weakness ( the mul & ris tmpotentid ) of phrase , made strong by the femintefe underwriting , which ensures its force with all good hearts , is a good letter , and will endear the Queen * more and more to her people—and most of all , to the real people , of humble homes , thinned of gallant " fellows , " to whom the tearful sympathy of the royal lady will be preekrtis > But isn't it a new fea * ture in history these Mmistresses of War—a Queen writing to a Right Hon . Secretaryess of War , who , in town , sends a despatch to that picas Medical Offlceress— Miss Nightingale ? Why not put the Ministering Angel into recognised " office ? "

      Perhaps , however , Mr . Sidney Herbert shares his salary i — When lions and tigers are combating , tne fost has his day ; and , just now , when , public attention , is absorbed in the war , or rather in the attempt at peace , a variety of abuses , governmental and otherwise , are setting in as they set in during tn & last war—for instance the new agreement betweettrtfefc North-Western and Great-Western Railway Companies : an agreement to agree as to fares in districts , for the traffic of which hitherto they have been competingso that in future they may- plodder

      , the public between then * . At any other time-liber would be an outcry against tbi » league : asit-VrHOt a word of objection is raised ; and with such encouragement the principle may be carried our wltb other companies—say between the Nortft-Westertt and the Great-Northern . An actual amalgam * taca would then follow , and a system would arise , in com parison with , which the old highwaymen dangers to property would-be trivial . Mr . Gard ^ ell I ¥ not ; a fainiant minister ; can he overlook this ; jjotispiracy to settle a new ocracy in a land already

      over-ocratised ? — When in Louis Napoleon ' s speech to his representatives , that paragraph about Marshal St . Arnaud "forcing death to wait Jbr victory" was read in Paris , the universal exclamation in political circles was MocquardI The solution of this enigma is that M . Mocquard , private secretary to the Emperor , exadvocate , ex-viveur , the last of the troubadours to La Reine Hortense ( who was always departing for Syria ) , and we know not what besides , once perpetrated a translation of -Tacitus . This ,- translation .

      was performed after the death of his patroness , in the absence of briefs , in ill health , and in the depth of provincial obscurity—a combination of unfavourable circumstances which will account , perhaps , for M . Mocquard ' s Tacitus being even less known than M . Moequard . He little dreamt of one day putting Tacitus into the mouth of an Emperor . Forcer la mort I it is the sublime of parody . We hear in Paris that Victor Hugo has written an ode on the death of St . Arnaud , who with a shadow over his heart , and a " damned spot' upon , his hand sought to cover the bloody guilt of the Boulevards in an atoning grave . Si j at faillt j at bien exptf—St . Arnaud is reported to have said in his farewell address to his soldiers ; but the phi-ase ( if authentic ) was struck out before it reached the Moniteur . A fine subject & r the poet of the

      Chdttments . . . . — Not many weeks ago there was a sovrie at tne Tuileries—many of the ministers were present . J-eieirraphic despatches of the Emperor were brought in on a salver in the course of the evening . Louis Napoleon quietly read the despatches , smiled aouDifully , and then—handed them to his Minister ot foreign Affairs ? Not at all—he rolled up tho despatches , placed one end to a candle , and burnt them to within an inch of his fingers , the Ministers standing hy m mute astonishment . Verily , despotism has a grand air , and Napoleonic despotism has always a . smackoi the brigand . In constitutional England wo do not burn despatches—we cook them . France - 'Well" said a distinguished writer in _ France

      to a * el -known deputy of the Imperial J . cgisiu ™™ corpse , " soyou responded toM . . doMornyV > annuunce Sof the loan with acclamations . " « Ma for , om , replied the deputy , shrugging Ins # «**« » ' j ™ , voulez-vous f nous sommes Id pour celul No „ "' . > rejoined the publicist ; " voub etes le Corps acclamant . And the deputy smiled assent . _ " Tho Empress , " wo hear from France , " works dailv at tho preparation of lint for tho unny . ' What a pity Louis Napoleonwa « iu , t married in i ^ ccmbor ' 51 ! HiB wife would have hadl enough to do to find lint fbr tho citizen * wounded in defending the laws . s

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 6, 1855, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_06011855/page/15/