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LINEAGB OF FRANKLIN PIEUCE. In a recent ...
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AnCLXlSKATIOJi OF BEEE. In touching upon...
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TJIK MODERN MATtOHUY J>AW. Who always bu...
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Mookrn ruAiu.HAi.s.\i.—How offensive is ...
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dDpra CmrariL
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[ik this department, as all opinions, ho...
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There is no learned man but will confess...
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THE VALUE OF OUTSPEAKING. (To the Editor...
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(I'o the Editor of the Leader.) Sib,-—It...
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Tlic I.wo Idlers, signed respectively "P...
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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.
T11k Wisdom Of Our Ancestors' Descendant...
resisting the further enfranchisement of labour . The consequence of this half-hearted timidity is widely disastrous . Labour , the true source of the wealth and strength of a- nation , continues unhonoured , untrusted , unrepresented . The feeling and intelligence of the workman still lack the healthy sustenance of public aspiration . Industry has no conventional dignity , and that frank and invigorating public spirit which should ( and would otherwise ) animate th & national heart , subsides into private selfishness , or actively and sullenly conspires against the common blessing of public peace .
The perpetuation of this state of things the Whigs call " temperate policy "—the Tories call it " principle , " and the Magistrates , echoed by the large number of the unreasoning or the idle , whose political education consists in chanting the few cant formulas of a false and narrow conservatism , call it the " preservation of social order . " The elevation of the disowned people and the security of the public welfare therefore alike depend upon the dismissal of the Whig party as unprofitable obstructives , the utter abolition of-Toryism as an antediluvian monstrosity , and the creation of a wiser and broader element of government in the State .
A country which has long consented to be hoodwinked by Whig negatives is naturally at the mercy of any more positive party that will boldly relieve it or boldly delude it . Such a party have now attained to power—and they mean to keep it : they at least have that one strongly developed intention . And with a desperate tenacity , added to an unscrupulous licence of tongue and purse , they may give the feeble race of our current political make-believes some trouble to dislodge them . Like political pedlars , they offer to the country
a set of universal principles , and you may select which you please . They have no preferences . They will govern the country on their own peculiar doctrines , or , says Lord Derby , on yours if you so please—but govern they will . There was therefore , a clear and resolute policy to be pursued by the constituencies—namely , to provide a body of representatives of popular sympathies , of definite well considered principles , endued with the poicer of concerted action ( ever indispensable ) and a strong will . They would then be able to push the governmental factions forward—or push them out .
It nmtters little who the rulers are , so that they rule well . If wunre to have a government forced upon us—let us make them do the nation ' s work—and if not , compel them to make room for those who will . In the present aspect of things it is likely that other elections will succeed the present , at a brief interval . The Electoral virtue may have other exercise , and hence the _discussion of its duties may be timely beyond the hour . A Government without public views is a somewhat immoral and , we trust , si rare spectacle . The English people have usually bad to decide between contending principles of national policy . Now they have to select principles for themselves : and if Electors could be made to understand their position , we might get some new blood into the national council .
Agitation is now an open question in every borough . The old Avarning , " Do not let in a Tory by dividing the Liberal interest , " is now no more than an empty sound . The " Liberal interest , " is not worth much more than fhe 'Tory interest , and the Tory interest is worth —itself . We have everywhere to struggle for a new interest , namely , the People ' s interest . Hence , in Westminster , the Tower Hamlets , sind other places , the Coninghanis and Newtons represent a new and vital element , which must have exorcise in our . coming Legislatures . It is on this account that the election of such men is of importance . To press forward their
claims at , fhe certain cost , of admitting Tory competitors would , undoubtedly , be a censurable mistake . Let the . friends of fhe people ' s intercut take , care what they are doing , —but , not , fo take so much care as to do nothing . The alarmists about , Tories getting in are not to be attended to , unless they show good evidence of being iu the . right .. Whigs and Tories have so merged and faded info each other , that , they need not wonder tbat . the people , cares little for either of them . The people will not be so unwise as not . to distinguish tbeni so long as a jot , of difference remains , but , the people will iiu ) i-tmie risk to . supplant both parties by a more true , a more decided , and a , more , national party
than either . To this end , many places will find , as the City of London will yet , that , its electioneering arrangements _m-ttsl be disturbed , and ought to be disturbed . If , as in West minster , tbere exist , a , body of Reformers , who watch the interests of Reform , and advise _, the Elector . ; , such bodies must , lake care fo watch in fhe right , quarters , and advise in the right sense . They must think of the national and popular , as well as of fhe local interest or convenience . If they bestow the prestige of their association upon timid Whigs , or indistinguishable . Reformers , the people will , and the people ( Might , to take their affairs into their own bunds , and content the borough for themselves , if a Tory
T11k Wisdom Of Our Ancestors' Descendant...
succeed , it will not be the fault of the people , but the fault of those feeble and unfaithful Reform Associations , who bear a name of which they have lost the true spirit , and who seek to drag constituencies at the tail of a decaying and emasculate party , instead of securing chivalrous , emphatic , and well-informed representatives of the onward movement . The result of the elections will show that we are still lamentably far from obtaining such a House of Commons as would be collected , if the competition ( held to he so salutary elsewhere ) were open to the nation . The rarity of _w-orking-class candidates at this election is a matter of remark and _ren-ret : and even
tliose elected , do not always adequately personify the cause of their adoption . It is possible that better men might have been , in some cases , found . But , where the pecuniary difficulties are so great , the choice must be limited . Besides , when a principle has to be asserted , those have to be chosen who can be secured . Whereas , if our Constitution opened the field to the candidates of the working-class , that large section of the population would show as much discretion in the choice , and ( without great difficulty ) quite as much purity , as any other party now in the exclusive enjoyment of the franchise . Let the man who consents to
mutilate the Suffrage , include these facts in his estimate , before he condemns the principle of its fullest _extension ; and let the heartier advocates of the people ' s cause gather new assurance of the soundness of that popular enfranchisement , which would give us all a more energetic political vitality , and , through the awakening of better men , endow with a more national spirit a nobler Parliament . Ion .
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Lineagb Of Franklin Pieuce. In A Recent ...
_LINEAGB OF _FRANKLIN PIEUCE . In a recent number , we mentioned that the democratic candidate for the Presidency , General Franklin Pierce , is descended from the Percys of Northumberland . His ancestor , the Honourable Mr . Percie , who settled in Virginia in 1806 , was the brother of the Duke of Northumberland . He was a Member of the Council , and a man of much activity and influence . It is well known that the Percys have spelled their name in various ways , and that it has often been pronounced " Piercey . "
We suspect that if the pedigree were investigated , General Pierce would prove to be tho heir of tho House of Northumberland in the male line .
Anclxlskatioji Of Beee. In Touching Upon...
AnCLXlSKATIOJi OF BEEE . In touching upon the Parisian calumny about that bitter ale which ia so brilliant and world-famous an ornament of British institutions , we suggested that some medical commission should bo instituted , after the fashion of tho Lancet , to explore the amber and dark ocean of the national beverage in every variety of vat , and to report upon its condition . Our suggestion has been taken up by the ATcdical Circular , which introduces tho subject in the number for Juno the 30 tli ; beginning a general investigation of " Food and its Adulterations , " with "Malt Liquors . " Wo shall watch the progress of the investigation with great interest .
Tjik Modern Mattohuy J>Aw. Who Always Bu...
TJIK MODERN _MATtOHUY J > AW . Who always buys in the cheapest market?—Tho En glishman . Which is the cheapest market?—Tho _Uritish retail trade What is sold there ?—The Englishman . Ry whom is he sold ?•—Hy himself . In _ivhat , market does ho soli himself ?—Tn tho _dearesl market—himself .
Mookrn Ruaiu.Hai.S.\I.—How Offensive Is ...
Mookrn ruAiu . HAi . s . \ i . —How offensive is it to hear some pert , self-approving personage , who thanks Cod that he is not as other men are , passing harsh sentence on his poor hard-worked heavily-burdened fellowcountrymen ; including them all in one sweeping condemnation , because in tbeir struggles for existence they do not , maintain the same prim respectability as himself . Of all . stupidities there are few greater , and yet , few in which we more doggedly persist , than this of estimating other men ' s conduct by the standard of our own feelings . There is no more , mischievous absurdity than this judging of actions from the outside as ( hey look lo us , instead of from the inside , as they look to the actors ; nothing more irrational than to criticise deeds as _thouarh the doers of them had the
same desires , hopes , fears , and restraints with ourselves . We cannot , understand another ' s character except , by abandoning our own identify , and realizing tn ourselves bis frame of mind , his want of knowledge , his hardships , temptations , and discouragements . . Audit" ( be wealthier classes would do this before forming their opinions of the working man , their verdicts would savour somewhat , more of that charity which covcrcth a multitude of sins . —/ Social Statics .
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[Ik This Department, As All Opinions, Ho...
[ _ik this department , as all opinions , howeveb ixtrejie ahe allowbd an _expbession , the editor _neceasasilt holds himself eesponsible for none . ]
There Is No Learned Man But Will Confess...
There is no learned man but will confess he hath much profited by reading controversies , his senses awakened _, and his judgment sharpened . If , then , it be profitable for him to read , why should it not , at least , be tolerable for ins adversary to write . —Milton .
The Value Of Outspeaking. (To The Editor...
THE VALUE OF OUTSPEAKING . ( To the Editor of ihe Leader . ) Dear Sir , —Permit me to express how entirely T , as one of your readers , acquit you from the charges , on account of inconsistency in your religious views , to which reference is made in the last number of the Leader . I hold your views to be large , sound , and consistent . That of all Philosophy , History , and Art , Religion is the essence I profoundly believe . That it is the one
important matter m life , I equally believe : as I do that it is distorted and alloyed by the societies of men , in their endeavours to adapt it for current use . Let me also express my humble admiration of the ability "with which you are expounding Comte _' s admirable views of physical philosophy , and of the courage and skill ¦ with which you endeavour to furnish the complement of faith , love , and devotion—the negation of which invalidates his whole system . I allude especially to your defence of the line— " The Heavens declare the Glory of God . "
I hoped from the biographical sketch you gave of Conite , that he had at length gained experience of those chords in the heart , whose vibrations assure us of the existence of such things as Faith and Love . I am , faithfully yours , _Winduah ; _Hahdikg-. _Kowliincl , Wimbledon Park , Putney , Juno 10 , 1 H 52 .
(I'O The Editor Of The Leader.) Sib,-—It...
( I ' o the Editor of the Leader . ) Sib ,- —It is perhaps but fair to inform both yourself and your friend A . K ., that you possess a class of readers who by no means participate in the doubts and regrets which he has expressed . The path along which the Leader has moved since its commencement , is clear enough to those who havo the skill and patience to trace it out . I believe we should have the truest reason for regret , if we saw you warping aside from this independent orbit , and twisting yourself round , what geometers call , " singular points , " merely to suit the private wishes of your friends .
For my own part , 1 tii Her from you in many respects . JJut as long as I see you striving to infuse more manliness into man , and proving , as you ever have done , your appreciation of honesty , courage , and endurance—regardless of tbe accidental stamp which these qualities for the time have borne—so long will you have the support of my class—si , class , I may remark , which , though usually quiet and silent , are probably animated by as deep a radicalism , and as free habits of thought , as A . K . himself would care to subscribe to . " T . . iinw _. -i-i . isr . _a .
Tlic I.Wo Idlers, Signed Respectively "P...
Tlic I . wo Idlers , signed respectively " Prevention" unci " 1 'iat « _ltin ( i ( in , " me under consideration . Wo cordially concur in so ninny til' Uie _nenl _iiuenls e \|> rcHHed iu the hit ( cr , llutl wo shall lie sorry il" ils extreme len _^ lli should prevent , its _inmc rf . if . fi . _SoKi'TiciSM in la no i , and . - -We have beard it quoted as the . remark of a distinguished foreigner , conversant with the choicest society in several of tho capitals of Europe , that nowhere is fhe alienation of fhe
higher and professional classes from all religious faith so wide -spread and complete as in England . Tbat the masses at . the other end of the social scale are indifferent or _disaHeeled to tho institutions which visibly embody Ihe Christianity of our ago , can be no secret to any observant , inhabitant , ol" a . large English town . It is ou the middle class alone that flit ! various forms of Protestant worship have any real bold . — Prom the West minster Review for duly .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 10, 1852, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10071852/page/18/
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