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[ Conservative 132 g&frr u,ean*t. Batord...
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POLITICAL LETTERS. IY.—What is Already D...
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JERKY SNEAK. NOT DEAD. It ia a fact. He ...
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RECEIPT FOR A CABINET PUDDING. The follo...
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THE FRIENDS OF ITALY. An active course s...
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REFORM AT A DISCOUNT. There is little ro...
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NOTES ON WAR. BY A SOLDIER. No. V.—The S...
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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.
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Relief Of Honourable Members. In England...
the poor fellows to alternate blasts of hot and cold S * . No doubt it is the device ^ ran ^ insidious Government to tell off inconvenient ^ Members . The House , you would suppose , might have the bes of candlesticks ; what , therefore , can be the ^ bject of SV < iver Major Beresford a lamp which is con ^ stantly leaking We only remember ; that _ Major BeresLd is a Protectionist ! When King Edward II . was confined , according to Marlow , his rest was marred , and he was slowly tortured with indignities ; they gave him dirty water to wash in ; and when he would sleep , " one beat continually on a drum . " In short , they treated him as ill as a Member of Parliament in modern times .
Follow the poor Member to the refreshment room , and there you find him tortured through his purse ; he is charged six shillings a bottle for sherry ; and , Eke King Edward , he is humiliated with tablecloths that are not clean ; so says Fitzstephen French . Evidently there is a systematic attempt to break the spirit of the Englishman After being subjected to toil for twelve or fourteen hours , fevered with hot air , rheumatized with cold , made faint with speeches , forced to dine off a dirty tablecloth , and charged six shillings a bottle for his sherry—at midnight , when he is fagged / bruised , broken down , oppressed with sleep , unmannedthen is the time chosen for passing estimates . We see it all .
And all this is done in a building whose windows are illumined with a painting like that , saith Hume , of " the Red Lion at Brentford , " giving to the secret prison , as if in mockery , the air of a convivial house of entertainment !
[ Conservative 132 G&Frr U,Ean*T. Batord...
[ Conservative 132 g & frr u , ean * t . Batorday
Political Letters. Iy.—What Is Already D...
POLITICAL LETTERS . IY . —What is Already Done to Hand . February 4 , 1852 . The remarks of several esteemed correspondents and friends remind me that in my last review of " Progress" I ought to have repeated one thing which you will remember me to have said more than once on the subject of ' ¦ * Peace . " Those who desire to keep up the onward movement of mankind should do their best to strengthen the vanguard in every possible way—in moral force , in intellectual force , and in physical force ; otherwise we abandon the rear of action to those who are against us . Not all the " articles " or sermons in the world could spirit Louis Napoleon ' s mercenary soldiers back to
their barracks ; and for want of mounting guard effectively over liberty , thought itself has been exiled from France at the point of the bayonet . The lover of progress who abjures arms , abandons the lever of action to brigands , despots , and any unscrupulous ruffians . "Touch not deadly weapons /' he exclaims , "they are for assassins and burglars ; " and then , when the burglar comes , the philanthropist sees his library ransacked and his children ' s throats cut , without power of resistance . Or if , unnerved by want of practice , he does lift the unaccustomed weapon , ten to one that in his trepidation , like the Reverend Joseph Smith , of Brampton , he slays an innocent man , like Armstrong of Sorbie Trees . So murderous is the caricature of Peace .
The example of the Quaker does not apply : "he belongs to a sect , and the fighting is done for him . Another reason why I deprecate the tame spirit which has crept over us is , that to it I ascribe the immense lagging of practical results behind theoretical opinions . There is scarcely a measure of great and immediate national importance which does not exist in the conclusions already matured by the body of the people . A sound Poor Law , for example , is no imaginary vision of mine , but exists in parts ; not only in the wishes , but in the practice of the people . At Bedford , Oxford , and
elsewhere , they have industrial training of the young ; at Ghorlton , Sheffield , Cork , Thanet , and many other places , reproductive employment of the able bodied ; at another place , the aged are not mixed with vagrants , but are allowed : a due allowance , not in the workhouse , but in a *• homo "; and so on . Put these existing parts together , and you have the principal portion of a sound Poor Law , to which the residue would be an easy addition , In the matter of representation , very few indeed
deny that every Englishman who pays taxes—and who does not?—ought to have a vote ; and if there were only an influence capable of bringing that widely spread but scattered conclusion together , we should soon realize , a truly National Suffrage . The great majority of Englishmen are well alive to the importance of possessing arms—to the superiority of a national force over a mercenary official force . If there were a National party , it would not have to ' * create a public opinion " on these cardinal
questions : the opinion already exists ; and I _ behevethat if there were any set of men , who could command the general hearing from- a sufficiently elevated position—who would thus give unity of voice to the common feeling—and who could utter that feeling with a hearty generous faith in the sound English stuff o' conscience , they would at once find themselves at the head of a united nation i would by the very fact , possess power to decree the measures that the country most urgently needs ; would make us forget all party feuds ; would bring the State on the instant to its full vigour , and would , take the lead in Europe powerfully , safely , beneficiallyfor all kind . . . __
, man « If "—alas ! that the word should be the closed postern to so much that is quite possible were the postern opened . But it is by seeing the possibility that we shall find ourselves roused to the work of attempting . I ask no man to take me at my word I beg every reader not to dismiss what I say as rash because I have come quickly to an end ; but to take the facts for his own observation and digestion , and say if faith , hope , and ^ charity , might not thus command the triumph of a popular party ; Thornton Hunt .
Jerky Sneak. Not Dead. It Ia A Fact. He ...
JERKY SNEAK . NOT DEAD . It ia a fact . He is extant still—the small sinner . Now and again he appears on the scene of things , and plays his pranks instinctively , and with a certain dim effulgence , tempering his appearance to mortal vision . Yes , Jerry exists . An energetic and indignant correspondent makes a note of the fact ;— Kemp Town , February 4 , 1852 . Sib , —My previsions have been fulfilled . The English Minister for Foreign Affairs has been sacrificed , by the Jerry Sneak of modern Whiggery , to a contemptible Court intrigue . Will the English People accept a counterfeit " Coburcer " from the hands of the " family" smashers ? b Yours obediently , W . ( f . If they do-the English People will be worthy of their Jerry , and their Jerry will be worthy of them .
Receipt For A Cabinet Pudding. The Follo...
RECEIPT FOR A CABINET PUDDING . The following lines were originally suggested by the entourage of that amiable Prince ^ President who enjoys the sympathies of Downing-street , and on the security of whose good and pacific intentions , Derby and Russell are equally ready to "do a bill . " We are more than ever reminded , by the deportment of our Ministry on the first night of the session , how nearly Cabinets resemble one another . What is here written of the President , may—barring the difference of the moral atmosphere—be equally applicable to Russell and Co .: — En form ant son conseil intime , Notre Sauveur A choisi des gen 6 qu ' on estime A leur valeur . II a compris par son g < 5 nio Le grand hlroe , Qu ' une unite se fortifle Par des zCroa . C .
The Friends Of Italy. An Active Course S...
THE FRIENDS OF ITALY . An active course seems to be decided on by the Friends of Italy . Their first Conversazione will be held at the Freemason ' s Hotel on Wednesday next , when Mr . Mazzini will deliver a lecture . We very heartily welcome his appearance before the public , confident that he will thereby greatly benefit the oause of his country . Englishmen need to be spoken to through their favourite institutions ; and a popular leader who haB the gift of eloquence , and power of speaking his inspired , as well as deliberate convictions , in strong and chosen language , is bound to use that power to advance the noble aim he has in view .
Reform At A Discount. There Is Little Ro...
REFORM AT A DISCOUNT . There is little room for wonder if the English people find a general misconception of English interests prevailing in high quarters . Lord Grey declares solemnly , that the newspapers' do not express the feelings of this country when they censure the coup d ' e ' tat and its infamous author ; and Lord Derby avers , that not five hundred men of sense care for reform . How , then , does ho suppose that newspapers maintain their circulation ?
" One very striking fact , " says the Brittah Quarterly Review , " ascertained from an examination of tho stamp returns for the last fifteen years , is the very limited circulation of Conservative newspapers compared with that of papers which advocate commercial and political reform . Out of London there is only one Tory journal circulating more than 4000 copies weekly , and only two besides it which can boast of a circulation above 3000 . On the other hand , there arc no loss than eighteen Liberal no wspapers circulating upwards of 3000 copies each , and of these there are nine with a circulation above 6000 each , six with a circulation above 6000 , three above 8000 , two abovo 0000 , and one circulating upwards of 11 , 000 copies weekly . If this comparison of tho respective circulation of
nrstclass Liberal and newspapers may be taken as a criterion of the comparative political intelligence ana activity of the two great parties , the facts we have stated are well worthy the attention of statesmen . From the state mentwehave given it will be seen that the proportion of Liberal to Conservative papers of the class mentioned is as six to one , while the difference becomes still morn striking if we . take into account the ' small aggregat consumption of stamps among the Protectionists com pared with the large number required by the friends 6 f progress . It appears , for example , that the number of stamps taken in 1850 by two free-trade journals fa Lancashire ~ the Manchester Guardian and' the Manl Chester Examiner— -yiaaequ & l to the whole of the stamns consumed by the entire Conservative press of the following fifteen counties—Bedford , Berks , Bucks , Cambridge , Cornwall , Cheshire , Devon , Dorset , Essex . Herta " Kent , Leicester , Lincoln , Wilts , and Warwick . " '
Notes On War. By A Soldier. No. V.—The S...
NOTES ON WAR . BY A SOLDIER . No . V . —The Swosd . The adoption of the sword as the weapon for the masses of a military force , would cause war to become so much a matter of daring and devotion , so much dependent for success on intelligence , a faith , a purpose , and a good cause , that no mere mercenary sol . diers would ever be able to compete on a fair field with men engaged in defending their liberty against a tyrant , or their hearths and homes against an invader .
I consider the sword to be the queen of weapons , the brave man ' s weapon , the very flourish of which in the air gives confidence to the warrior , and strikes terror into the heart of the enemies who know that they have not equally serviceable means of opposing its vigorous action in the inevitable mele ' e . It is the most rapid and certain in its execution of all weapons ; good for striking and for parrying a blow , easily recovered after a parry or a thrust , and superior to the lance , because an opponent cannot rush to a still
closer combat within and beyond the range of its effect : it becomes useless in fight only with the fall of its owner . But the lance or pike is a most formidable and efficient arm , and would be irresistible if opposed to the bayonet ; it has its peculiar advantages ; and as many men would have predilections in its favour—and it must always be desirable that all should have confidence'in their weapons— -some corps might be armed with pikes , always endeavouring to reserve the largest and most powerful men for swordsmen .
Both for elbow room and for rapid work the sword should not be more than twenty-five inches in length , very slightly curved , and doubied-edged for eight inches from the point , half basket-hilt . For the construction of a serviceable shield , I would willingly trust to some of our ingenious mechanics ; oval , convex , formed of layers of hardened leather , encircled and bound with a hollow iron rim to prevent a sword or bayonet thrust slipping over its edge ; it might easily be made ( although light and handy ) s trong
enough even to turn a musket ball . In its centre boss , the point a little curved upwards , should be fixed a stout sharp blade about six inches long , with a cutting edge , which would be a valuable defe nce and a formidable auxiliary at close quarters w cavalry ; but would of course be carefully sheathed on the march , when the shield is slung over the back . The pike needs no description : it should not be more than nine feet in length .
The instruction of soldiers should not be made up of those endless " cross over , down the middle and Up again" evolutions * which only confuse and mistify by their complications ; they should be taught to run , to wrestle , to leap , to fence , and to take a pride in their personal prowess . The manoeuvres necessary for actual service are few and simple : when men have learned to march straight to their frontto step togetherto make a steady deployment
, , from column and advance in line , they are , with stout hearts and good weapons , fit to do anything that oan be required of them . And they should bo made to understand the nature of the difficulties they will have to overcome , and of the dangers to which they will be exposed , so that in the day of trial they may not , through ignorance , be unprepared and astonished .
The organization and drill of infantry would bo very simple . Without maintaining that these proportions are absolutely the best that could be arranged , I should propose to have one-fourth of a force oj . infantry trained to act as skirmishers , and furnished with tho most suitable firearms , and tb , e r emaining thrde-fourths / irmed partly with pikes , and ^ partly with swprds and shields , for close fighting . Thus , « J a regular army , oaoh battalion might consist of eigW companies , each of sovonty-five rank and file , tno two flank companies being riflemen , forming when required a body of skirmishers amply sufficient to cover tho front of the four and fifty " ugly customers who would follow them , ready to rush in with , tno oold steel as soon as the Dro » er distance had boon
gained . And by the side of the sword or piko even bayonets might do something . Each company , oom of riflemen and swordsmen , should be drawn up J » two ranks , with an interval of a foot between every
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 7, 1852, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_07021852/page/16/
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