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    1068 THE LEADER. [No. 346, Satuei>at

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    ROBSON'S TICKET OF LEAVE. The picture of...

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    Palmerston In Manchester. Palmerston Is ...

    Town . Hall that the open supporters and covert foes of the Premier , and the policy he 13 supposed to represent , found themselves face to face . It is in the addresses of the Town Council and the Commercial Association that vre have the expression of tie views of Manchester on large imperial questions , and a hearty recognition of the niesumed merits of Xord Palmees'ton' . It is in the address of the Chamber of Commerce tbat we see traces of the spirit , if not the pen , of Cobben , Bright , and Gibson—of the materialists and non-interventionists . In the

    former addresses luord Palmebston is regarded as the maintainer of British honour , the foe of oppression in every form ; " the " protector of British subjects abroad ; " as a Minister who in a time of danger and Aberdeenism was found " possessed of firmness and abih ' ty commensurate with the crisis . " And Mr . Tubister assured his lordship that Me Manchester men are not wholly devoted to cotton-hags and money-making ; but that in a just and necessary war Her Majesty would " find no men more determined to

    support her arms , or to hear -without a murmur the burdens of war , than tie citizens of Manchester . " But in the address of the Chamber of Commerce , the spirit of the Cobdenmen rises up to lecture the Government for its shortcomings , not in . upholding the honour of the country 3 but in not upholding the cotton interest—in not passing the Shipping Dues Bill—— in not mating India a cotton , country . And this negative censure in an address of welcome was capped

    by a clumsy apology for introducing so much shop talk . But PaIiMebston always can get the weather-gauge of any assailant . To the " War men , he is the " War Minister ; to the Peace men , he is for continued Peace ; to the IFree traders , he is a JFree-trader , as c < the OExe " witnesseth ; to the Chamber of Commerce , he is for " progressive improvement . " He let out the secret of Ms general agency . The English people have what is called " selfgovernment ; " the way to govern them is

    to find out what they will have , and what they will let you take : concede the former , and they vrill grant the latter , will press it upon you . He told them at Manchester that , if the people do not get what they want , it is their own . fault . That is , if they have made up their minds , and will persist enough , Mascakilxe will recognize the e sense' their petitions to Parliament . Leigh Hunt tells somewhere of a man . who vent about

    Iiondon * crying' every fish tbat was in season ; yet be had but a little hand-basket hanging on his wrist . Tell him the fish you wanted , and be would get it in a trice , better and cheaper than you could buy it , from the circumjacent fishmongery . P-AXMrEitSTON is that fishmonger . We should not wonder if , supposing the people wanted even a Keform Bill , they would find a good specimen in Palmbeston's basket . But they must call for it , and must call loudly , too .

    1068 The Leader. [No. 346, Satuei>At

    1068 THE LEADER . [ No . 346 , Satuei > at

    Robson's Ticket Of Leave. The Picture Of...

    ROBSON'S TICKET OF LEAVE . The picture of Robson as he appeared soon after his sentence , with a close-cropped head wmI prison dress , would have more effect upon * ke population at large than any verbal report of the trial ; but to complete the moral , it should be accompanied by the picture of the same man in full swing aa a great gentleman . A . pair of pictures ofthia kind should be uung up in the coffee-rooms and ' private rooms of those handsome and convenient hotels , where the Robso ns of our day < most ? ° congregate . 'As to the mere nunishment is uatetul

    « to the individual while he undergoes it ; but he is not undergoing it in the previous years . While he has the life he do

    sires , the penalty is too remote , too faint , to have its effect upon him . The very difficulty is to get at such men in the nick of time , to preach the sermon which Eobson illustrates to the Robson before he accumulates its raw material ; and we doubt even whether the picture of the two RoBsoifs , repeating Hogarth ' s moral of the Rake ' s Progress , would make the new Robson of the hour pause in his supper , or do anything hut quiz the ultimate fate of the fellow who had not been

    sharp enough to keep a better costume . Besides , the Robson may turn round upon us , and say that he could not accomplish his career without our assistance . Somebody must make his opportunity , and so it was in the present case . Eobsoit was first introduced to the Crystal Palace Company as a smart young man , well worth his clerk ' s salary of one pound a week . The Crystal I ? alace Company offered double ; and soon after be entered the glass house

    establishment , he was promoted to a better position . At the head of the transfer department was a Mr . Easson , who " suffered a good deal from ill health , " and while enjoying the consideration which his position , implied , he " left a great part of the management of the business of his department to the prisoner , " said Mr . Serjeant Baxlah"tine , " arid undoubtedly this afforded to the prisoner the

    means of committing the frauds that were imputed to him . " Robson thus found himself early p laced in a position of great responsibility , with a salary of 1501 . a year . He was paid for his smartness ; and be used his sharpness against those who paid him . so low a salary for doing duties to \ rhich a high salary was attached . If there is some degree of laxity here , it appears to iis that it does not lie exclusively with Robson .

    But it requires something more to manufacture a full-grown RoBsoir . The plant will only flourish in a certain atmosphere ; and , luckily for the species , the atmosphere is as readily found in moral London as it is in New York or Paris . Several gentlemen engage in a joint-stock speculation ; it is very desirable to have good commercial data to go upon ; but essential to have a plausible project . The inconsiderate public , however , is less influenced by the details of the

    iiroject , upon which of course it depends , than by the names of the directors and the look of the establishment . Accordingly , the projector tries to get ' eminent' names on the published list of directors ; he seeks very handsome apartments as the offices ; and equips them splendidly , with good substantial furniture , footmen in official livery , and all that can give to the house an , appearance of

    opulence . In these days , names are easily got ; many a company at the East-end , and even at the Wesfc-end , has its splendid apartments , its footmen , and that ready command of cash which looks so aristocratic ; ail at the expense of the doomed original shareholders . Can any Robson be ignorant of these facts ? He sees around him

    high or low obtaining money simply by the appearance of having ifc ; he observes that men . of his own class , who wear firstrate clothing , wbo have always got shillings in their pocket for any amount of ' Hansom , ' and of gold for any amount of tavern expenses , can get into the society of men who lend their names to directories ; and he sees

    that while they have the opportunity for advancement , they can realize a considerable amount of substantial enjoyment in the process . In fact , " the IdleApprentice" ofthia class can often gallon through a career which leaves " the Industrious Apprentice" behind . " The Idle Apprentice' * who is lucky , may establish himselt'in one promotion after another ; may pay the debts incurred iu one stage by

    the profit which he can rake together in the higher stage ; and may ultimately be even an honourable director , with his own carriage his own mansion , and his own debts , all placed on a safe footing , with the possibility of converting the debts into assets by so me lucky turn . " We could point to more than one man whose name now figures high in lists of directors , whose contribution is believed to be an . honour to a charity , whose presence would be hailed with heartfelt delight at a public meeting , but who might at some period of his life have gone into a melancholy siding

    such as that in which Robson has come to a collision . It all depends upon the degree of cleverness and luck , and perhaps upon the degree of complicity into which higher jersons can be drawn . Davidson and Gorion obtained first-rate assistance , even after one of the firm had been distinctly recognized as " a thief . " These are considerations wHch materiall y abate the moral influence of the pair of pictures . The Robson of 1855 was sharp enough to attain the distinguished position that he did , but it was want of sharpness or luclc which sent the Robson of 1856

    into his truly ludicrous position . And Society draws exactly the same distinction that we have imagined the Uouson drawing . The wh ole difference between the venial man and the culpable is , whether or not lie has the money in his purse . Anything short of atrocious crime is pardoned to a full parse . A tavern-keeper proceeded against a gentleman this week for ' 901 . as the balance of a tavern bill , incurred apparently during a mouth or six weeks . The whole transaction is instructive . The tenant

    pleaded " never indebted , payment , and the fact that the lodging had been let to him for an immoral purpose . " This reminds us of the old plea in bar of the action for the broken coal-scuttle , — -that it was not broken , had been mended , and bad never been borrowed . While courts of law admit pleas which are absolutely incompatible , and which convict each other of being lies , we can scarcely wonder tbat men out of doors are lax in their moral distinctions . Mr . Meiklajj : had sinned against the landlord of an hotel in Air-streefc . He was accused of

    having ladies to sup in his rooms , but that was not tlie sin , ; the landlord , indeed , " not aware of it , " except retrospectively . Mr . Meiklam was accused of consorting with another gentleman , who came some ' times in a brougham— ' St . John ' Wood , you know ! ' But that was not the offence that was unpardonable . The lodger was sometimes tipsy ; but landlords forgive that ,

    although they consider it ' mauvais gout . One lady once came to the gentleman ' s room , and sent for the gay gentleman ; but he was already at the theatre with another lady , and did not feel inclined to return . That , however , was hot the- unpardouablo sin . All went smoothly enough during the first month , while the . gentleman psu'd his bills : his character was crraduallv seen through bills ; his character was gradually seen through

    when he did nob pay his bills . It is the sove reigns that make the distinction between tlie pardonable and the unpardonable ! And so it is through all life . The gentleman in question was visited by a lord : Robson , no doubt , might also find his lords , or other ornaments ; and so long as he could pay for tlie horses , the dinners , or the othor substrata of good society , he would himself lie a ' good' societarian , mid would command tin * roBpect of most whom he met .

    The Robson then learns that so loiigaa to can conjure money into his purse , for the moment the pew opener will bow to him j & church , the landlord will welcome him ft 3 t (? a home , the landlord's daughter will "wink at the peccadillo , the lord will grace his supper-

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 8, 1856, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_08111856/page/12/