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    Apbix 11,185?.] THE LEAPEB. 361

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    THE KIDDEILMINSTE11 RIOTS. The cowardly ...

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    THE TFICK BURGHS ELECTION. The show of h...

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    and devoid of beds ot of any provision f...

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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 Persian Expedition, And Its Chief. J...

    and the "Persian ; their Oriental individuality Temams unchanged and unalloyed . To those wholiave Tjeenaceustomedto regard Persia as a civilized country , and to imagine lier possessed of a government and institutions analogous even to those of the worst providedstates in Europe , the comparison we have incidentally suggested will of course appear strange and unfamiliar . But the idea of Persia being so much more highly favoured than other Oriental monarchies , will , on examination , be mostly found to ¦

    rest upon some vague . ' . reminiscence of "Hatiz and Sadi , or a traditional belief that the Persians have been , , from remote ages , a polite and educated people . . jSTor'is ' this altogether a fanciful impression . They do possess a sort . of literature ; and they still are the most polite and educated of Asiatics . Xet , as . a . ' nation , almost every fault which is usually ascribed to the Chinese , may witli equal justice be charged upon the Persians also . Their intercourse with Europe has

    been slight ; and , until recent times , only occasional . They are not to be judged by the European standard . It is generally adjnitted , that , in our earlier intercourse with the Chinese , we too often lost time ia ? di ' plomacy that would have been better employed in action . It is now , perhaps , beginning : to be understood that .-large sums have "been very uselessly expended , since tlie earlier part of the present century , in costly missions designed to cultivate the good-will of the Shahs of Persia . A seasonable

    ex-Inbition of force should , wherever Asiatics are concerned , precede any show of conciliation . This maxim was not lost siglit of by those ¦ who planned the late expedition to the Persian GrulfV The- local authorities at Bombay deserve great credit for the completeness and general efficiency of the force detached for service ; and praise is due at home to the judicious selection of Sir James Otttiiam as political and military cluef of the expedition . That a better choice could not have been made the event has fully demonstrated . We are not so pugnacious as to rejoice over a

    defeat that might , perhaps , in strict necessity , have been spared : since peace was actually in course of negotiation at the time the battle of Khooshab was fought . Bub we look upon the victory thero achieved as an event of the highest importance in its probable effects on the morale of the Shah and his subjects . But for this episode in the brief campaign a peace might have been patched up on mere considerations of ministerial policy , and no lasting impression would have been left behind . Nothing , therefore , could be better timed than this brilliant

    passage of anna , which is rendered even more opportune by the woll-knovn fact that the Persian troops affected no small degree of contempt for the native Indian cavalry , who played so conspicuous a part in their discomfiture at Khooshab . There are rumours afloat in ' military circles that Sir . Tames OucritAM ' s valour and good conduct in his present high station will be handsomely acknowledged by the Crown . It is generally believed that ; a baronetcy , at least , will be conferred upon him ; a reward which far less conspicuous services have often

    earned . Prom the period ( 1819 ) whon lie joined his first regiment , the 23 rd Bombay 3 ST . I ., Sir James Outham luis led a life of useful , zealous , and unremitting activity . His military capacity was from the first we ' ll lenown ; hut , having of Into years boon almost entirely devoted to political employments , it is only just now tlmt ho has found * an opportunity ol' justifying , by buci'cm . s in t ! iu Hold , tho reputation of a brilliant soldior and t : u > tician . And this reminds nn that the 1 C . C . IJ .-ship SirJ . vMKs m >\ v holds id a Civil one bestowed i ' w diplomatic services .

    HOW TO ADMIT BAROK ROTHSCHILD . Teeri : is some talk of a . treaty of compromise between Lord PAiiMERSrox and the leading Peers hitherto opposed to the admission of the Jews . Tho direct way of dealing with an opposition is , of course , to defeat it ; but , if the opposition be reasonable , terms of / accommodation may be arranged . No one argues that the oath of abjuration was framed with any view of preserving the . Christianity of the - "L egislature . It was assumed tlmt " the

    true faith of a Christian" meant Protestantism , as opposed to Papal Catholicism ; yet the main objection is , that to admit a Jev would be to uncliristiauise tlic Legislature . The Legislature' has no protection against indifference , infidelity , or positive atheism ; its doors are open to hypocrisy ; its oath keeps out conscience only . "Why not frame a declaration , binding every member of Parliament , Catholic , Protestant , Unitarian , Friend ¦

    Irvingite , Mormon , Jew , or 'Nothingarian , ¦ to observe the laws and to guard the Constitution . ? To impose a Christian form of swearing iipon a Jew , supposing he could adopt it , would be to extort from him an ' utterance- of certain . words which he must regard as of no meaning or value whatever ; but accept the vow he is prepared to offer , and he is bouiid by his own code of honour and faith . "We

    doubt whether a Chinese , wlio , in a national sense , is of no religion whatever , would have any difficulty in entering the House of Commons . The Emperor of CiriiTA , for instance , who patronises piety as an amiable weakness ; might condescend , were he a refugee in London , to patronise Christianity in , ; the same way , and , leaving out of sight the naturalization laws , might take his seat ; by enacting a little farce at the Speaker ' s table . "W e : ¦ exclude none but men with

    honest and strong convictions ; we stigmatize the Jews , but we fail to preserve the religious uniformity of Parliament . Tlie objection to Baron HoT 3 tscnixi > 's admission is not even bigoted ; it is simply irrational .

    Apbix 11,185?.] The Leapeb. 361

    Apbix 11 , 185 ? . ] THE LEAPEB . 361

    The Kiddeilminste11 Riots. The Cowardly ...

    THE KIDDEILMINSTE 11 RIOTS . The cowardly and brutal -outrage of . ' a rabble at Kidderminster has elicited , on every side , an explosion of unmitigated disgust . Whether they were in all cases non-electors or electors who launched their obscene execrations and ruffianly missiles at Mr . Lowe wo cannot sa } r , hut they were idiots aud poltroons . Their malice was that of savages , their violence that of fools ; for what could they hope to gain by attempting to murder a defenceless

    man who had appeared on a i > ul > lic hustings , fearing nothing from an English populace ? We suppose that this language is not too strong for the beggarly sots who hurled thousands of stones at one of their countrymen , and all but cried out for his blood . Grlad wo are , however , that this was the one exception in England . We were not surprised to hear of head-breaking in Tipperary , where tho old-fashioned Irishman practised on his father ' s head " to keep Ms hand in , " but the Xiddermiustor mob has dishonoured

    and disgraced the country—first by its ruffianism in stoning a defenceless man , and then by its sneaking flight from fifty troopers . Mr . Lowk ' s political recalcikmtions have been forgotten in tho ayinpathy and regret excited by this attack upon him . Never was there a timo ' afc which it was more important , to tho cause of public liberty at homo and abroad to show a good example oftluj working of IVco institutions . Such an t > x : unpl (! aliordrd by England would do more to promote political liberty throughout Uuroju ! than nil the hollow husky mvhigM wo hoar about Hungary and Poland , and the

    "_ do \ vu-trodden . ; nationalities . " The disposition'to decry ura end our governmental system , is sufficiently wide-spread among the Continental bureaucracies . Upon the whole , however , the elections have been conducted with the moat praiseworthy order and . good feeling . Candidates , electors , and nonelectors have generally vied in chivalrous courtesy and cordial temper . The conduct of the non-electors is of particular imp o rtance , since it furnishes the most effective

    argument for or against an extended franchise . We luive to remark ou a personal matter "b efore quitting the subject . Mir . Boycott complains to us that , ia our report last- ; week , - we associated his name unpleasantly witli the origin of the riot . We have no desire to misrepresent Mr . Boycott . Our account was gathered from the accounts iii the daily journals . "We shall be glad to

    publish the proofs that he had nothing to do with instigating the violence offered to his opponent . All we can say at present is that we dealt with the subject more tenderly than some of . our . ' contemporaries , who directly charged Mr . Boycott with having incited the non-electors'" to bully and heat . " It is hot our usage to scatter random , accusations , nor did we gratuitously insinuate u single word against Mr . Boycott .

    The Tfick Burghs Election. The Show Of H...

    THE TFICK BURGHS ELECTION . The show of hands at the Wick Burghs nomination was distinctly in favour of Mr . Alexander Siiaav , whose strong Liberal sympathies and special knowledge of Indian subjects would constitute liim a most valuable member of the House of Commons . The election , while we write , ia still undecided . But whatever the result may be , Mr . Sha . ~ w may - . fairly- ' complain , of the treatment he has

    received from the House of Sutherland .:- Ho was first in the field for the "Wick Burghs ; he entered into the contest upon an understanding that the Suthebxa-ND influence would not be exerted against him ; yet Lord John Hay , whose Liberalism is of a lukewarm temperature , has come forward at the instanee of the Marquis of Sta _ : ffotu > , son of the Duke of StrTHEitTrAiTD . What became , then , of the implied compact between the Duke of StrTirEKXiA-ND and Mr . Ai /

    exa-ndeb , Shaw , who was induced to become a candidate on the condition that he should not liave to fight the agents of the Sutherland domiuion ? Lord John Hay , no doubt , is a very gallant officer , and an estimable gentleman , but lie has not , we think , on this occasion , displayed all the frankness aud generosity of a sailor .

    And Devoid Of Beds Ot Of Any Provision F...

    and devoid of beds ot of any provision for tho necessities of nature They were there under suspicion of being concerned in tho broad poisonings . The authorities , it Rccms , do not provide them with any food , for which they aro dependent on their relatives . Among these men is the baker Alluin , who , together with nine others , was roarrested after the acquittal of the charge of poisoning , and confined in this foarful hole under suspicion of being dangerous characters . Soveral of tho European inhabitants of Hong-Kong have petitioned Sir John Bowring to deport the suspected persons , as a measure of public safoty ; but this has been met by a counter petition , arguing that such a proceeding -would bu extremely arbitrary .

    Tokturb of Chinicsb at IIoxg-Kono . —It is stated by the Chinci \ Mail , of the 15 th of February , that fortytwo Chinese at Hong-Kong had then been confined for twenty days in a cell sixteen feet long by fifteen broad , furnished with , only one small aperturo for ventilation .

    \ Vkst Coast of Africa . —By tho last mails from Africa wo learn that tho Governor of Sierra Loono returned on tho Gth of March from a successful tour up the river , - where ho arranged several treaties with the chiefs . Tlie war continued in Mellicourio , to thu advantage of tho Moriahn , which tonds to tho progress of trade . Tho country round < Janiero <> ns is quiet . Lagos in iilso quitjl ,, and ample preparations ure mud < : for any possible attack by Kosoko . A rumour prevail . - ; that the I ) ahomoy nation , intends making u descent on Abbeokutn .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), April 11, 1857, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_11041857/page/15/