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1190 TH E LEADER, ,,::.,,-^ .,. - .:. .....
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<Dpra Cnirttril.
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[itf THIS DEPAKTMEIfT, AS ALL. OPINIONS,...
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There is no learned man "but -will, conf...
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FEDERATION OF THE WORLD. (To the Editor ...
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RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS IN GLASGOW. Athenaeu...
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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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The Governing Classes. No. Xiii. Viscoun...
both as a respondent to questions and a controversialist in debate , is , that notwithstanding all his acumen , he very often improvises hi 3 convictions ; in other words , that he is an impulsive man , in the sense , that ; having no . principles , he is uncertain , in action . In home politics , even his countrymen have perceived that his views are broad , vague , and comprehensive , as taking a nation in ; his career affording proof that he cannot conceive the distinctions between " parties . " And certainly there is room for an enquiry , whether his foreign policy has not been just as unsystematic as his home policy ? To attribute to him a design , abroad , would
be to attribute to him a faculty of statesmanship which he has never exhibited at home . Abroad , he has displayed , when occasion arose , the most consummate tact , the noblest courage , and the craftiest comprehension of the immediate problem ; but there is no evidence , beyond TJrquhartly concatenation of accidents , to indicate the foresightednees , or the afterthoughtedness , of a great patriot or a great renegade . There are , unquestionably , some groundsfor the Gallic belief in the perfidy of Albion . There is an enduring English , as there is an enduring Russian , policy—the secret policy of Britain always having reference to the commerce of
Britain , as Frenchmen , to the surprise of British Radicals , have discovered ; and certainly Lord Palmerston would not be so popular as he is on the 'Changes of England , if it were not that he , more than all his contemporary competitors , understands the sanctity of British , trade . That general traditional policy of the Foreign Office he has followed , with victorious fidelity . He has also been perfectly consistent in his explanations ( at home ) - in recommending the unenlightened communities of the Continent to try Constitutionalism upon the English model , including the heaviest
debt in Europe , * and a House of Commons into which any man can purchase an entrance . But beyond this simple action , sustained by this British affectation , the rest of Lord Palmerston ' s foreign policy is vagary . We find that he has two classes of assailants : those who believe he is in the interest of despotism , and those who are convinced he is an agent of democratic revolution : and the explanation is , —that sometimes he is one thing , and sometimes the other . The Germans sang , in ' 48 and ' 49 , — - " Hafc rler Teufel eincn Sohn , So ist cr , sichor , Palmcrston : "
men like Blum , and men like Schwarzenberg , entertaining , upon exactly opposite grounds , precisely the same aversion . Those kings , and ministers , and bureaucrats , who were submerged in the storm of 1848 , traced the European catastrophe to the design of Lord Palmerston , Minto being universally regarded on the Continent as the dyspeptic OEolus : and again , when reaction set in , the patriots everywhere recognised as the original reason the duplicity of Lord Palmerston — his lordship , no doubt , showing really curious delight when Louis Napoleon put the seal to the popular disasters . But in the inconsistency of . the
conduct is the acquittal of the accused . Excepting that commercial by-policy already referred to , England has no general broad system to carry out : her constitution being a delusion , and her social life a horror , she docs not tench the Continent how to live , while , on the other hand , . she is , in political and social liberty , a thousand years before Austria or Italy . Whoever , then , holds the . seals of the Foreign Office must wander : and when the Secretary is , at the name time , a man who merely applies bin common sense , irrespective of past and future alike , to circumstances as they arise , British foreign policy would bo exactly of the
delirious character of . Lord Pahnerston ' s . That , thanks to tho continued freshness of his soul , and youthfulnesH of his intellect , he would , despite all tho lessons of his experience , enfranchise ; tll mankind , his countrymen included , from all tho tyrannies of creeds and constitutions , there is , 1 think , very litUo doubt ; that is to nay , that his taste lies that way ; and it is not his fault if mankind an ; unfit for or unprepared for tho maxims of bin magnificent common houko , or thn workings of his fine sympathies . But an ho is a statesman whoso statesmanship is to keep in , ho controls his impulses ; and has played witli profound tact , between 1 . 1 to various influences which beset his career at the Korcign-Oflico . . Il «
has reconciled , with more success , th . an any other man , the necessities of the trading , with the tastes ol tho governing classes : lie has known hotter than any other mail how to defend some commercial object ( an , for instance , the African squadron ) Upon a lolly ground , either of religion or of c ! onst . il , jition ; i , lisni . Occasionally , as wan inevitable , one . side or other would t ) o enraged with him ; the aristocracy , l « d by Lord " Derby , once tried to crush him ; and thu Crown , whoso family ponehants be had boon compelled , for greater objects , for : i . moment to forgot , attempted in 7 M . lii to annihilate him , and only annihilated l . he 'WhigH , which the Crown will eternally regret . Hut he had acquired , in liin long retention of office , Imowlah / c , : and such knowledge in English politics is omnipotence . * A lending and liberal jounwil the other < hiy amusingly quoted , as a compliment to the lirilinh people , the maxims of it 1 ' oroigM financier , t . hat it whs only upon nueh institutions as tho British that a Government could n » , imi largo Ioiuih !
He is the stronger for his rebounds from every blow : and at this moment is the most popular of British statesmen;—and—were I a young—and therefore a perplexed—member of the House of Commons , —the politician whom I would implicitly follow . . - Non-Electok . .
1190 Th E Leader, ,,::.,,-^ .,. - .:. .....
1190 TH E LEADER , ,,::.,,- ^ .,. - .:. .. i ;; , ; ,:. i £ ilf ^ 54 * L
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[Itf This Depaktmeift, As All. Opinions,...
[ itf THIS DEPAKTMEIfT , AS ALL . OPINIONS , HOWETER EXTKEMK , AEE ALLOWED AN EXPRESSION , THE EDITOR NECESSARILY HOLDS HIMSELF BEaPONSI ] JI . E TOR NONE . ]
There Is No Learned Man "But -Will, Conf...
There is no learned man "but -will , confess lie hath much , profited . toy reading controverfies , hio senses awakened , and his judgment sharpened . If " , then , it be profitable for hi n to re : id . why should it nt ~ , t , ,: tt least , be tolerable for his adver-ary to-write- —Milton .
Federation Of The World. (To The Editor ...
FEDERATION OF THE WORLD . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) Sir , — -There seems to be one method , and perhaps only one , by adopting which wavs between natifms will cease and determine for ever . Till the nations and states of the whole earth are regularly confederated and united under a common supremacy , war is almost a necessary incident . They must be brought to one federal action , to which each individual state must be subordinated . It is towards such a condition of the Governments of Europe , and slightly of other countries , that the present diplomatic system , however unwillingly , points . Just as we see strange strings and solid ribs run through a liquid before it crystallizes or freezes , so may we trace in the rather complicated systenv of every nation being represented everywhere by a diplomatist , the germs of a new condition well fitted , indeed , to better the position of the whole human race . For it will only then become possible to lessen the sp lendid inequalities of condition which at present leave the masses of mankind in a state of serfdom .
That such a confederacy of nations will solve many of the intricate problems with which we have to deal , there is no great difficulty in showing . The disastrous capital and labour fight is related to it very nearly . The rivalry of nations in trade has at present a tendency to lower wages in one country to the standard of another , and whether it may be government , or more probably the combination of labour , which interferes to settle a minimum of wage , it must
to have effect be a universal government or a universal combination . The existence of an ill-paid class of labourers is a national evil , but interference with the rate of wages in one country only drives the trade to another , and leaves the class destitute instead of underpaid . The gradual harmonizing of ranks which may be expected to follow national confederation , would do much to render the position of tho labourer more what it ought to be .
How immensely such a union of nations would tend to spread knowledge and the means of civilization over the many neglected parts of the earth at present withered under capricious despotisms ! Difference of climate will always ensure distinct national characteristics , but tlftre seems no necessity why countries which once had energy to subdue the known world , should now lie like Persia or Syria , for instance , with populations for the most part very littlo different from our gipsies . Nor , indeed , is it at all likely that these
countries will long be suffered to remain in the condition in which they ; ire . If not led by peaceful ways to improve their resources and to kindle a new civilization , as Turkey has somewhat done , it is very much to be feared that they will fall as such states generally do , into the hands of powers which know better how to organize their forces . The power of Kussia has long been sloping in that direction , and like avast glacier having its root in the icy north , casts every now and then traces of its moraine-a littlo nearer to
tho land of Cyru . s . Now , to put an end for ever to warlike encroachments by one nation on another , would be no small object . ' The desire animates the Peace Conference sufficiently ' to lead them to stand the fire of ridicule , justly , perhaps , duo to the inefficiency of their plans . The effectual way to put an end to wars is to reduce the warring powers under a common supremacy . Take away from nations as we do from individuals in a community , tho right of mutual pummelling , which either between citizens or nations is an offence and a breach of the common peace .
Though the groat and aim out ; inaccessible power of KiiKHia is an obstacle at present to tho world ' s resolving itself into Much a Common wealth , yet when the idea has once boon taken up , and public opinion pronoimufid . in its favour , means will doubtless bo found to reduce even lf , iiHf ) iato a peaceable acquiescence . The development ; of civilization , which is now exhibiting many of the coarno defects of a transition state , can hardly bo eventually hindered by any despotic power . With all enlightened public opinion in all countries bent on one object ; , it , will hardly be possible ' *' supposed interests of a few families to balk it .
Hut for no universal a boon we must neok the favourable co-operation and assistance (( four brethren in America , Those are , indeed , nhort-nighted who
propose to confine American politics to the affairs of that continent . They cannot do so if they wish it , and if they do not take their rank now among the various . Powers , whetherof Europe , Asia , Africa / and even we may say of Australia , there may be . harder work left for their children to keep their own than those children may be prepared for . They don't wish to have a hostile Cuba for a neighbour . How will they relish the hostility of the larger half of the world gathered under one Czar ? Such is possible if the peoples of Europe are not roused to thtir danger and their duty .
I hope the idea of preparing the world for a general confederation will find favour with your readers in all parts of the world . The Press and the facilities of travel , make that possible now which some years ago was Utopian . The bonds of universal alliance of the nations are beginning to be felt . The duty we owe to our fellow creatures is not to be limited , to the countries we reside in . In fact , the duty we owe to mankind in general is paramount to that which we owe to bur country . And as more come to feel this , the greater becomes the propriety of some central controlling power , in yielding to which a universal deference , men will feel as brothers , and be permitted to act with sympathy and charity towards one another . Your obedient servant , UPSiLOur
Religious Movements In Glasgow. Athenaeu...
RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS IN GLASGOW . Athenaeum Beading-Rooms , Glasgow , Nov . 29 th , 1853 . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) Sik , —I , being a constant and attentive weekly reader of your paper , allow nothing to escape nay notice that appears in its pages ; consequently , last Saturday ( the 26 th ) I find a communication headed as follows : — "Religious Movements in Glasgow , " in which is the following passage— " Another and highly pugnacious association is the Protestant Laymen ' s , who having apparently bullied the Roman Catholics into silence , have turned upon the Morisonians , to ruin Whom they are covering the walls' of the city with most unchristian placards . The _ JMorisonians offer to discuss the subjects ( predestination , & e . ) if any minister , or person appointed by a body of ministers , be put forward , " & c . Now , your correspondent , "W . M . " must either be ignorant of the origin of the dispute , or wilfully mistakes it ; or he is a blind partisan on the Morisonian side , as otherwise he would undoubtedly have set forth the real state of the matter . Now , I being on the contrary perfectly neutral , and fully cognisant of the or igin and progress of the affair , as well as understanding the tenets on both sides ; and knowing also personally the combatantsprincipallyengagedin conducting the discussion , feel called on , in defence of the truth , to
offer a few remarks , in order to disabuse the p ublic mind of the false impression likely to he made by the above paragraph ; more especially as it appears in your paper , which is pretty extensively read , and considered influential here in Glasgow . " The Protestant Laymen ' s Association" was set afoot for the purpose of defending and promoting Protestantism against the attacks of Papists and infidels ; and in prosecution of this intention a discussion took place in the city hall , between Mr . Jamieaon on tho Protestant sido , ^ and Mr . Daly on the side of Popery . A certain "G , S . L . " attended the debate , and not being satisfied with Mr . Jamieson , he (" G . S . L . " being a Morisonian ) wrote a letter to the Christian News , their organ hero , in which the following denunciation of Mr . Jamieson to
occurs : —" Mr . Jamieson , as a CaLvinitt , professes vindicate the Bible as the only rule of faith for mankind : but being a ' Calvinist' he neither holds exclusively nor invariably to the Scriptures as alone authoritative in regard to the Christian faith . As such , ho does add to the word of God , inasmuch as ho adulterates that same letter of celestial lovo with tho admixture of soul-destroying error . " And again : — "i ' or instance , the thrice-horrible and blasphemous affirmation regarding a holy and righteous God , that ho hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass . If this be thy rule of faith , O Genevan Israel ! what pure trifling to get angry with Popery . " And again - - " If both l > o true , then it can matter nothing to God as to whether tho Bible or Tom Paine ' n writings be the bent ' rule oi faith , ' as to whether Protestantism or Popery ,
Socialism or MahomedaniKin , prevail , or altogether . ' _ From the above specimens you will obseryo that "C . S . L . " ( Morisonian ) was the aggroHHor by hucJi an unchristian and virulent assault on the " Protestant . Laymen ' s Association , " whilo they wore conducting their own defence according to their own creed an ' al ( l down in the Scriptures of the Old and New lesU-( itli
irienta , and in the Westminster Confession of J" , against the Popish advocate . This , sir , isthetnitu ^ and as for unchristian placards , I can Hay , from having read every one inmied by both parties , that tho irotentant Laymen's Association" have not asserted an untruth in ' any placard , from the commencement oi the mutter till now , and have not characterized tn other side ho ntrongly an thoy ought to have done , n « cause the Morisonian side hart boon guilty ol g ><«» quibbling , Hhnillhiff , and equivocation , throughout u «
whole controversy . . .. , Uy giving the above a place in your fimt publican , o ., v , ui er « ,, ay .. bu m Hi .-, y- ™ j ;* f 5 ' , a ?« '
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 10, 1853, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10121853/page/14/
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