On this page
-
Text (3)
-
f 1188 ¦ _ THE LEADER. [No. 351, Sa^av
-
, THE SICILIAN INSURRECTION. The intelli...
-
CHEEK'S "STUNNER" AND TIIR TRUE LIFE PRE...
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
- 3 - 1 T ] - 1 A J < - He - - . It In- ...
until it shall become a work of practical business . This deliberation is thoroughly consistent with his character ; it has stulti-§ ed all t ] je j 4 Je jeports which have been OTCTiiated respecting his aggressive projects . "GProra our own knowledge of the man , Are ¦ wereable at once to place the stamp of falsehood upon all those rumours ; we now refer
with satisfaction to the altered views put forward by the correspondents even of once hostile journals , such as the New York Herald , the London Times , and the Daily Wews , as confirming the opinion which we uttered in the very midst of the prophetic storm against him . It does not at all follow that the Administration of the United States
-wall be more agreeable to [ Royal Governments , or less conducive to the extension of the Union , its power and prosperity . But in fact the true progress of the United States is identical with the progress of civilization on the other side of the Atlantic ; it is identical with the material interests of the English people , and with the real opinions of the great majority of our countrymen ; while those foreign Governments which most sympathize with Downing-street , have not conferred the greatest benefits on England . or syropathized most with English people .
F 1188 ¦ _ The Leader. [No. 351, Sa^Av
f 1188 ¦ _ THE LEADER . [ No . 351 , Sa ^ av
, The Sicilian Insurrection. The Intelli...
, THE SICILIAN INSURRECTION . The intelligence from Sicily is so confused and incomplete , that it is ; impossible to speculate upon the probable result of the insurrection . Its success -would imply the ruin of tlie Neapolitan monarchy ; its failure would be a misfortune , but -would not imply the future submission of the island to the
Bourbon rule . Indeed , it is by no means unlikely that a succession of partial reTolts may take place Lefore the general outburst of a war of independence in . Italy . Setting aside , then , the details of the actual Sicilian movement , it becomes a vital question wh ether the opportunity is not close at hand for an attempt at Italian liberation . A signal from Sicily without a response from Naples can scarcely be imagined , unless we believe
that the pressure " enforced by the Swiss legionaries of the King ia so rigid / that neither the disaffected national troops nor the oppressed population have discerned a chance of victory . If , however , the Neapolitan patriots have preferred not to recognize the Sicilian outbreak as a leading event , we may suppose them to have good reasons for their reserve . The Italians have too clearly learned the lesson of patience to throw
away their power , and sacrifice their blood without a reasonable prospect of success . We do not anticipate , however , any very serious delay in the ripening of the great scheme that now includes among its promoters the most intelligent patriots of all classes , from the Alps to Sicily . The insurrection that has taken place may not be the commencement , but it is the prelude ; it is a parallel to the irregular activiby of 1847 ,
which preceded the organized war and conflagration . Under such circumstances , what is the duty of the Italian people ? To be ready , to bo bold , to be unanimous , to trust no pretenders , to keep their cause unprofaned by violence , intrigue , and selfishness ; above all , to act in concert , and not to flinch before danger . This counsel may be superfluous ; but it is in such a spirit that we sympathize cordially with the champions of Italian independence .
• 7 ? ¦ En 8 liah nation may aid this good cause m the event of a general Italian insurrection . It is utterly vain to recommend pence doctrines to the subjects of tlle King of Naples , tlie Austrian Emperor , and the Pope . Thev MMI not remain tranquil The bayonet pointed at the breast of Bomba ib a declaration of war
We must accept an Italian war of independence as thouga it had been already begun ; - — indeed , it may at any moment be in progress . Our duty is , then , to press upon the . Government to exercise no sinister influences in Sicily or the peninsula , to make no fallacious promises , to enter into no compacts inimical to the nation whose calamities we affect to deplore . "We may even insist—and if we used our power might give effect to our proposals— -that England shall in no case , directly
or indirectly , participate in Continental conflicts , unless upon the Liberal side . Let us hear no more of Motto missions , orG-enoese royalties . "Whatever governments may be set up in Sicily , Naples , Rome , or Venice , we are bound to recognize , upon the principle which actuated the recognition of the Trench Republic and the Bonapajbte Empire . More
thaa this may be done . Money may be supplied , by a national subscription , in aid of the independence of Italy . Such a subscription , as our readers are aware , is in active progress ; but it is now doubly necessary that the English Liberals should be prompt and generous . "Whatever be the issue of the movement in Sicily , it is certain that Italy is not far distant from a period of commotion .
Cheek's "Stunner" And Tiir True Life Pre...
CHEEK'S " STUNNER" AND TIIR TRUE LIFE PRESERVER . Mb . ' Cheek , the eminent umbrella-maker , advertizes amongst his " useful and elegant presents , " a new land of life preserver , intended to encounter the garotte . He calls it " the Stunner , " and we have no doubt that for the moderate price which , he charges , . " Tybumiensis , " Saxon , " or any other gentleman who is nervoiis on the subject of metropolitan highway robbery , will procure a very efficient weapon . The question is , however , whether •" . Saxon , " who is just at present : arming his person against the metropolitan and suburban highway men , and fortifying his castle against the' housebreaker , will have the qualifications for using his weapon when he needs it . It is the common result
of empirical remedies , that they are only designed to meet the last stage of a disease , and that they fail because the patient has already succumbed to the most fatal part of the malady . The man who combats gout with a lotion for the skin , has suffered himself to be already killed from within ; and the man who has relied upon a " stunner " for meeting a
garotter , is likely enough to find the lotion turned against himself . "We had an example the other day in the case of Mr . Bradley , at Sheffield , whose bedroom was invaded by four housebreakers . They maltreated him and his wife , ransacked his drawers , imprisoned him iu his bedroom , and quietly proceeded to rob the rest of the house . In tho
inosfc critical stage of his misery , Mr . Bradley was kept in awe by a man who stood at tho foot of his bed with a revolver—the selfsame silver-mounted revolver which Mr . Bkadley had purchased for hia own defence . A reckless use is made of the word " garotte , " wliich is now applied to every species of attack by surprise in tho open streets or roads ; whereas it originated with a species of instrument intended for the partial strangulation and stupefaction of the passenger .
It consisted , wo believe , and still does consist , when it is used , of a stiff double bow , —as if two yew bows were tied together at the ends ; it is opened by the robber , applied over tho head of the unconscious passenger , and thus used as a mode of gently throttling him , with consequent congestion of the brain ; bo that he is seized with temporary apoplexy before ho knows what he is about . How would a stunner apply in a caso of this kind ? except that it might be used by a garotter to finish his work , should the patient still retain
vigour enough to bellow . Where would fe the use of a sword-stick , or a pistol , or anv other instrument , for ex post facto defence ? Ihose who rely upon topical remedies forget , the ^ very position in which they staiid towarda the highwayman and housebreaker It is a constant race in the progress of civili ' zation . ^ "We . ¦ discover new guards—sprint bolts , alarm-bells , iron shutters , patent loclH new police , plate safes ; but every step in the ' art of protection is only a premium for anew step m the art of depredation . Each improvement that we invent cheats us into a false reliance , until the thief has found out the trick of circumventing the improvement- and
then we fall to make a new trap to ourselves by some fresh < security . ' The invention of a more ingenious lock by Chubb , or BiiAMAir only calls into requisition a better workmanship in skeleton keys ; an iron shut , ter is a stimulus for producing a superior kind of jemmy ; the advent of a Hobbs is accompanied by the development of an Ag-jLu . You appoint guards ou railways , and tliey become , as Buugess did , the ; partners of the Aqabs . The streets are thought safe because they are crowded and the policeman is near ; but some very clever fellow strikes out tlie invention of the garotte , which at once supersedes alarm and resistance .
The fact is that the knave ' s civilization has gone on quite as fast as the honest man ' s , in some respects much faster . Perhaps there was no period in which society could show such a large number of names iu the Uogues ' Peerage as En gl and at the present moment Mr . Agah belongs only to the middle class of roguery . Tlie annals of high commerce can
show US a WlNDIE OotE , a G 03 MO GoKpOX , a Davidson , a Sadleir , & c . & c . \ Ye have the list by heart . Eminent merchants , scions of noble families , Honourables , Members of Parliament , are reckoned amongst the swindlers , false pledgers , forgers , defaulters , and thieves . Tes , stealing is not unknown even amongst the aristoeraej " . In some of those notorious cases the real offence was the stealing of
other people ' s property from the places of safety in which they had been reposed . Joseph Windlk Cole stole men ' s money under pretence of selling them ' secur ities ' on worthless paper . An eminent merchant told his customer Davidson , that he was "a thief , " and undoubtedly the word might be applied in other cases . The rogue thetefovu meets us in the counting-liouse which is' sis safe as ithe Bank , ' ill the House of Commons , in the lordly mansion . Undoubtedly , the Kogucs' march has gone ahend much faster than the inarch of civilization .
" Tyburnieiisis" tells us that knives , revolvers , and shutters are not enougli , ami he proposes a very sweeping measure : — " Society relies simply upon tlie expedient or possible detection after the oft ' ence committed , and possible punishment after detection . I suggest , therefore , as a hint for wiser and abler men than myself , whether , now that there are 10 , 000 persons in London known to tlie police to be living systematically by robbery , some expedient is not desirable to restrain or curtail these -wrctchesin their operations . For myself , I hold it to be better that twenty Mr . Marleya should be dismissed the world per week , us Mr . Marloy himself will be shortly dismissed , rather than that one poor in an should perish aa poor Cope perished behind his counter in Parliament-street , and I would
viait all cases of robbery with violence , if not . with death , at least remorselessly with life-long expatriation . U ' none of the 1 G , 000 , of whom Mr . Marley was a . unit , are really one whit bettor than he , or deserving of more consideration . I say , theroforo , it ia not because a measure may appear harsh or severe that society has not a right to demand it for its protection . The 16 , 000 ought not to be considered in the matter at all . If it were possible to take them bodily and deposit them on a desert island , society would have tho right to do it . This , « f course , ia not poasiblo , but some strong and decisive measures , not remedial , but repressive , have becomo absolutely necoHsary if honeat men and timorous -women are to oe allowed to § leep peacefully in their beds , and I commend that vie-yv of tho subject to those whoso duty it » a t 0 Attend to it . "
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 13, 1856, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_13121856/page/12/
-