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MabcuV?* 1855.1 fESMiilADIR. 'S& l
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HUMILIATION "EX-OFFICIO." Iw no aspect d...
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WANTED A GENERAL OF CAVALRY. t££- I - re...
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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 Present And The Coming. We Are Sadly...
are almos * inclined to . join , the mob orator , and exclaim : - — " England remembers what manner of man was the First Gentleman in Europe . We may live to see the day when the people will follow with brick-bats to his grave the very last gentleman in Europe . " Most of our readers have no doubt been disgusted in the course of this war with appeals coming from certain quarters , public and private , to the effect that we must not speak harshly of our enemies , that we must be kind and considerate even to the Emperor
of Russia . The Paris police—very gentlemanly also—has recently arrested various individuals for selling songs reflecting on the personal character of Nicholas . If this moderation were urged in tlie name of Chris * tianity , or on any broad and . gener ttl principles , we should admire , and regret not to be able to imitate it . But it is a mere question of politeness directed to the station of the man or men whose feelings we are re * quired to respect . We are not called upon
to be merciful to our enemies , but to princes and emperors . The classes that now affect to be so gentle are the same that exhausted the vocabulary of invective and calumny against the Republicans of [ France when we were at war with them ; and who even at present think no abuse too ferocious , no insinuation too bitter , no He too cruel , to vomit against the partisans of liberty whereever they may venture to show themselves . " We are to crawl before crowned heads even
if they call up the last resources of their empires in order to injure and destroy us : we are to spit upon shoeless patriots even if they offer to become-our allies . This is the gentlemanly view of politics . Are we not right in saying that we must have new men to carry out new ideas ? The fact is , that at the bottom of _ all this gentility lurks a very clear view-of self-inte ^
rest . The great feature of the present times is a growing indifference for rank , titles , and worldly distinctions of all kinds . People are not quite so much led away as of yore by mere names . The process by which this result has been arrived at has not escaped the observation of our governors . They begin to understand that the advance of England towards freedom has consisted of a series of
very small stepsy each debated on principles that would have legitimately involved complete reform . The royal prerogative was long attacked by those who wished to limit it , from premises that might have left us no royalty at all . Parliamentary reform was based on doctines from which universal suffrage might have been deduced ; the people did not follow those who denounced rotten boroughs , but those who told them that " taxation without representation is tyranny . " In each of those great discussions
something was gained in practice but more in theory . Attacks on a particular king diminished the veneration for kings in general ; attacks on aristocratic abuses diminished the veneration for aristocracy . It is now felt that a little more stiri'ing in the public mind in this way will bo dangerous . The exeat debate is between liberty and authority . One question is being stated in an infinite variety of ways : Do thero exist persons and classes who , in spite of nil blunders and every
kind of incompetence , have a natural right to conduct the affairs of a nation ? Ought not the nation which suffers by these blunders and this incompetence to choose other men from other classes ? Common-sense replies "Ay ; " but there is a . lingering respect for old customs—a certain shabby tendency to believe in tho wisdom and capacity of old and young lords because they are lords , which says " No . " Make it clear to tho public that no veneration should go where there is no
virtue—do in . polities what the Reformation did in religion , that is ; make Teason a preli minary to-faith , and We shall at onoe have a new set of rulers . To avert this inevitable result the supporters of authority weakly endeavour to keep up the spaniel veneration dfor place and ppwer . Theyevenrepeatfthe fantastic absurdities of past times , and try to throw the halo of beauty and elegance round the persons of all who wield authority , however iniquitously . We used always to hear
of the majestic . person of Nicho : la . 8 ; we now hear of the manly grace and beauty of Alexandeb . But only women give their allegiance to bright eyes and broad shoulders . The world is sufficiently advanced to choose its leaders on other grounds . The English aristocracy cannot "by such acts lead our sympathies with theirs . They must abdicate , and let others grapple with the erowned apostlea of barbarism and slavery .
Mabcuv?* 1855.1 Fesmiiladir. 'S& L
MabcuV ?* 1855 . 1 fESMiilADIR . 'S & l
Humiliation "Ex-Officio." Iw No Aspect D...
HUMILIATION " EX-OFFICIO . " Iw no aspect does this country appear so unworthy of itself as when it receives the dictation of the official clergy in matters pertaining to religion . The Queen in Council has ordered that a day of fast , humiliation , and prayer , before Almighty God , shall be observed throughout England and Ireland ,
on Wednesday the 21 st day of March . The purpose of this prayer is " to obtain pardon of our sins , and in the most devout and solemn . manner send up our prayers and supplications to the Divine Majesty , imploring His blessing and assistance on our arms ,, for the restoration of peace to her Majesty ~ and her dominions . ' ^
The motive which- suggested this bbservance is one that merits respect , and will command the sympathy of considerable numbers ; but it will not command the sympathy of the nation . It suggests , indeed , very awkward associations , and still more awkward discords . It presents England as a State , curiously competing ia importunities with Russia whose
Czar , Privy Council , and people , have been for some months putting up prayers exactly for the same purpose on their side . This is a part of the subject which we cannot pursue . The species of competition in importunity which is suggested , is painfully profane Pbteb-Pindar- objects to - those . witches , mounted on broomstick nags , who
" Gallop along the air a wondrous pace , And boldly fly in God Almighty ' s face . " But imagine two witches of the archiepiscopal order boldly running this competitive race in the capacity of beggars ! If we were to depend upon our official church representatives for success in this kind of competition , we could not feel confidence . Wo have not before us all the Russian forms of prayer , but such specimens as we have received are imbued with an
earnestness direct to its purpose , and have a barbaric eloquence . The Czar boasts that he has the Almighty by his side , assures his people that they are fighting for the Cross , embodies before thorn a power so wide and great that in the very strength it seems almost divino , and speaks a language intelligible to multitudes . This is thoroughly genuine . Not bo our polite humanitarian , bishop .
He seolcs aid in " this time of peril and perplexity , " but he does it rather with the air of a member of the Peace Society , or an old lady , than as the spokesman of a nation seeking victory as a judgment upon tho right . He confesses to having deserved the divine anger , and "justly fears chastenings ; " as if England dreaded the war , and regarded it , not as a chastisement which she inflicts , but as , one that she endures ! He beseeches the Divine Judge to " enter not into judgment , " though that judgment could indeed be the
only legitimate objeCtof pratyfer ; but ) he prayi Providence to " direct © ur < 3 facidici Wove reign , ' ' = ^^ K ) fcourae ntDtttoWigh jtt 9 gmfent , bu 1 , by « oine " favour /^ " to &* pi ^ i & ffatioii oJ tranquillity at 'home and the ttSe ' s ^^ vifttidn oi pe * ee throughout the World . " In other wordflj the ArehbiBhop i & aiys for prtftectitm , deprecates judgment , and asfts for tt' ispeclesoi partiality on behalf of " England afoti Wa-lea and Ireland . " The Czar tells his pgojfle to march forth , and fight for Russia ftna the Cross . " Let nothing , " says our Archbishop in his lawn sleeves , " be done through pride , malice , or vain glory , " but to " teach us to be merciful , tender-hearted , and fully
compassionate . " Bead by the Czar ' s countrymen , this is the prayer of cowards ; read by Englishmen who know the decorations bestowed upon staff-officers , it ia the prayer of hypocrites . It is worse . Head by Dissenters , it is the prayer of one sect dictating to the rest ; and read by the working people , it is the prayeE of the rich who belong to that one sect , and who keep up these mummeries not through sincere piety or reliance in the divine justice but through a belief that the mummeries are an indirect means of sustaining the monopolies of rank and office . In the parish of St . Andrews , Holborn , the local Incumbent of
the Established Church claims to read prayers over the bodies of all " persuasions j" although , as a contemporary observes , some persuasions , such as the Jftoman Catholic , verily believe that the prayers of the Protestant clergymen are a viaticum expediting the soul of the departed on the journey to eternal perdition . The Archbishop will not allow us to pray for war and victory , but his "form" teaches us , with its oily " twang , that we must pray for peaee and favour ; and numbers even of the conforming sect stand by and sneer at the pretence , which others resist as a dictation and an interference .
It has aroused the working classes an several parts of the country . A day of fast and humiliation is to them a reality . To the other " persuasions , " besides thoBe of poverty , it only means the addition of fish and egg sauce to the usual dinner , with a closing of the place of business , as if it were Sunday . To the working man a " feet" means stopped wages and the want of dinner . Now the working " men ^ i 5 ^~ "W ' Hgo ~ TO the ^ " ^ lw ^ dinner , in order that the Archbishop ot Canterbury may , in . the chapels and churches of a particular sect , approach the
Throne of Divine Grace with , his insincere and unworthy prayer . It is not for the want of Buch a form in particular chapels and churches that the knives and forks of all the community should stand still . The working classes would gladly sacrifice a day ' s wage for a worthy object . If tho money were really needed for the benefit ot the sick and wounded , for the supply of tho ot tne
soldiers , or for the prosecution war , they would give it . We know they would , because they have done it already . Many a working man has given a day ' s wage to the Patriotic Fund ; but he doea not feel that a day ' s wage taken from him for the sake ot the archiepiscopal flam will correct blunders and retrieve disasters , or in any ™ . ^ * *?! £ to set this country straight before the Divmo Judge .
Wanted A General Of Cavalry. T££- I - Re...
WANTED A GENERAL OF CAVALRY . t ££ - I - reason why Groat Bri ^ not produce a corps of cavalry second to none that ever rodo upon the field of victory . All he material requisites for tho composition of In oTorwhoIming forco exist m these aslamU . Wo havo hone * certainly tho equals for spiat , bottom , aud speed , of any iu the world ; we have men , who have always shown . that fcney
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 17, 1855, page 11, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_17031855/page/11/
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