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September 17, 1853.] T* H E L E A D E It...
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ADVANCE OF AMERICA IN EUROPE. We have in...
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ANALYSIS OF A MURDERER. A man must go th...
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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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Kssnntiai..K Ok A Jmkvv Kkfokm Hill. M 1...
such a scheme , however plausible , is unfair from its partiality . Something , however , might be accomplished by a division of the whole country into districts , so as to strike an even balance between town and country population . By extending the franchise beyond narrow , un-national limits , and by abolishing the practice of a double representation , we should at all events approximate to a fair representation of all classes ; the more since there is a considerable tendency for classes to distribute their residences topographically into lumps . This arrangement would not exclude the extension of the franchise to all our Universities , on which indeed most persons are agreed . .
But tlie most difficult problem is that which refers to the persons who shall be entitled to vote . We cannot at this moment enter at any length upon this portion of the subject , and can only state broadly that the qualification should bo measured by the stake which individuals possess in the country . It has been the fashion to speak of a stake in the country as if it referred only to the possession of land , or a large interest in the money market . Is it nofc manifest that a man may be a good citizen who has not an
acre of land to call his own ? Has the artisan , who receives and spends his weekly earnings , no interest in the stability of our institutions , the preservation of peace , the condition of trade , and efficient legislation ? Once for all , this - part ial conception of an interest in the country must be got rid of . JSTo one seeks to represent vice , indolence , and improvidence ; but there is a reason , too strong to be withstood , in the demand for a franchise which shall represent the practical intelligence of the country .
At the ^ same time , we cannot urge too strongly upon our countrymen the necessity of education as a necessaiy preparative for the full enjoyment of the franchise . ¦ Whatever we have ^ let us have a constituency of intelligent and earnest citizens . Above all , let those who truly desire the right , nofc fail . . manifest their wishes . The subject is too wide to discuss in a single article
, and we have omitted many points well Avorthy of consideration . We shall , however , return to it , and , for the present , we are content to urge the importance of acquiring precise notions , and of employing all the leisure of the recess in a full and comprehensive review of the whole question , so that the public , as well as Ministers , may be prepared for the grand work of next session .
September 17, 1853.] T* H E L E A D E It...
September 17 , 1853 . ] T * H E L E A D E It . 899
Advance Of America In Europe. We Have In...
ADVANCE OF AMERICA IN EUROPE . We have in previous numbers of our journal noticed Mr . Everett ' s letter to Mr . Crampton , and Lord John llussell ' s reply . In one , the American Minister showed on Avhat grounds Cuba is necessary to the United States , the steps already taken to acquire it , the resolution of the Amenriennsto have it one clay , and the scrupulous good faith which the successive Governments at Washington Lave observed ; and in the other Lord John treated the- American Government as weak because it obeys the public opinion , and the claim on Cuba , as weak , because the compasses on the map tell him that it is nearer English territory than American . Of these letters the ' Daily ¦ Ncnis treats ; praising that of Lord John for its lofty rebuke and righteous sarcasm , and characterizing that of Mr . Everett thus : —
' It was with nothing' short < f amazement that ¦ JMijTlishinen YCm \ that letter of his to Mr . Cnnnpton ; aletter intended to ha rend by Englishmen and Americans in general ; a letter as able and elegant , in retfiinl to eoinpo . Mif . ion , as perhaps any other utafo paper ; }>»( . in principle and tone- so shameless and complacent "i its disgrace ; , a . s to ho almost , beyond tho power of dut ^ rebuke , INohody know what " to , s : iy- -where to »« ' : m amoiitf the commonest considerations of integrity how to aim rebuke al ; a man or a ( jovernment who
'"¦^< 'd picas by anticipation for spoliation and breach of iiith . K , would have been difficult ; to lmvo supposed >< lorehand tllut u'eonteinponVry of the great American 'twists the prolbssrd admirer of Kent and the friend <>< . Story— could Imve written tho lawless production which beni-B Mr . . Kverelfs nrtme . We trunk it ; will "l'Poin- that , he grossly miscalculated bis ground , » l »« believed Unit in that act he was humouring the national inclination . A stronger rebuke than oven ' -onl J . . RuHHell ' H would l > e a coin-He of honest conduct 011 < he , „„ . ( , Of t ] M . i ; Mi |(!( l . states towards Spain , in ro-B «« -d t , » (! ulm . » I hero is no advocacy of Npoliation or broach 01 J '" th m Mr . EverotVw letter , aa our mulera
well know ; and the United States have long shown , and will yet show , that Mr / Everett expresses the national feeling , as Lord John . Russell ' s flippant reply has not failed to rouse an angry expression of that national feeling . We are only amazed to see a journal'conducted with so much ability as the Daily News , and acquiring so excellent a position in this country , opening its columns to systematic attacks On our most important ally , inflaming the odious policy of rabid abolitionism , and aiding to mislead the English public as to the dominant policy of the United States .
We well understand the attempts in America to disparage President Pierce . They are due , in the first instance , to that party which is called into existence after every Presidential election , and whose nucleus is formed entirely of the disappointed candidates for places in the extensive removals that occur at such periods . It always happens that this nucleus gathers around it the more unscrupulous intriguers of the permanently existing political parties ,, and thus something resembling an independent faction is made to obstruct the President for the time being , simply
because he is the President chosen by the majority of the people , and is the man who has not appointed persons who regard themselves as the fittest candidates for office . The more popular a President , the larger is the number of persons who consider themselves to have claims upon him ; and this kind of spurious opposition was naturally formed upon a large scale after the completion of General Pierce ' s official arrangements . Besides this , there have been , we know , s _ vstcmatic attempts by the agents of Russia to
divert Americans from truly national objects , and to wheedle them into some position favourable to that Power , chief of the Absolutist party in Europe . These of course could have little-effect in themselves ; but they tell for something in a general movement . Again , the Abolitionists , who , as a party ,-are for the present under a cloud , are helping the anti-Pierce movement . Miserable as it is , Ave suspect that it is that Absolntionist motive which instigates some writing in English journals .
Tho course which General Pierce has taken , and is about to pursue , however , is perfectly intelligible , and our own readers must already understand it . The last time that he came prominently into notice before the American citizens , was as a volunteer in the war which added a province to the United States . He was chosen as a victorious General anxious to extend the territories , influence , and institutions of tho Union . The instructions issued by his Government to the representatives of America in foreign countries and at sea , have been to protect
American citizenship on every occasion and in every form . The spirited conduct by which Captain Ingrahain rescued a man bearing a colourable American citizenship from tho hands of an Austrian oflicor has met with distinct approval . Another officer of tho United States who did not show tho Maine zeal , and did show a tendency to fall in Avith a different species of conduct , has boon privately made to understand that such a course would bo incompatible with the retaining
of his place , and ho may now be reckoned amongst tho most zealous of American oflicers in Europe Austria has appealed to the other Powers against this conduct with no effect ; but an appoal made by so groat a Power as Austria without effect is a fact Aviiich draws after itself very serious consequences . Tho American Government will not bo inclined to desist from a course so far successful ; and wo ar « justified in Haying that a contest with Austria- itself Avould not be disagreeable to tho American people .
iiut to another appointment wo have already dniwn attention . In tho United States there exists an extensive association for more- systematically promoting tho sumo objects which Avoro promoted by the Mexican war . Tho Order of tho Lone Star ia founded to extend the territories , influoiuio , and institutions of tho United States , but more especially , to take possession of Cuba avo are not mire whether Mr . Soulo ib a member
of that Order , but hois well known to sympathise with its viowB . lie has avowed the same viowH Hinco ho received tho appointment an ambassador to tho Courl ; of Spain . JLl is probable that Spain would resent the appointment of mich a man . Then ! is not an American that would be surprised if the Spanish Government refused to receive the American Ambassador . Now , to refu . se to receive an Ambassador i » a national inaulL and in the
first step towards war . Well , America would not grieve to be at Avar with Spain . She is , therefore , already thus far advanced in a quarrel with two important European States . Other circumstances have como to our knowledge which make us well aware that the Government at Washington is animated in its appointments , as it is in its practical action , by the same spirit of sustain / ing institutions and principles which agree with its' own , in Europe as well as America . It appears to us that a policy thus carried out , is not only consistent AA'ith the antecedents of General Pierce , but is in itself quite intelligible , and quite in harmony with the prevailing sentiments of the entire Union .
Analysis Of A Murderer. A Man Must Go Th...
ANALYSIS OF A MURDERER . A man must go through much before he becomes a murderer . The whole of the process cannot be pleasant . There is something besides the crime mixed up with the motives , and it is not always that the will is thoroughly depraved . Sometimes the crime results from want of will . Sometimes from total incapacity to grapple with perplexing questions , in which case the conscience , as it Avere , bolts and flies over the ropes of the law—to get hanged in them at times . JSTor is a murderer usually a pleasant or easily comprehended object . It is difficult lo-know . how to deal with him for the best . As pure a murder as ever was committed is that charged against James Hayes—a man who hunted his wife about a market-place , brutally beating and kicking her . It is possible that a jury may not be able to trace * the actual deprivation of life to his guilty hands ; but that he did to her enough to destroy life —that he was found near her where she lay parting with life , are
facts absolutely indisputable . The circumstances present an accumulation of brutality seldom Avituessed , even in England . Haj'es had deserted his Avife , and had converted her into a creditor j who , it appears , dunned him weekly for some miserable allowance that he made her . On Saturday she applied to him for her money , and then it was that in Shepherd ' s Bush market he was seen to strike his
wife . He knocked her down Iavicc with his fist . When she got up the second time she ran for protection behind Thomas Taylor , a labourer ; and he told her " to go from , behind him , as he was afraid the prisoner might think he was harbouring his wife , and Avould attack him ! " Tho woman ran out of the market , and the prisoner followed her . Another man who had stood by corroborated this man ' s evidence : two " men , " therefore , had witnessed the assault , and had not
interfered ! About twenty minutes past one o ' clock on tho same night a policeman was standing near ground Avhich had been dug for the foundation of some new buildings ; and n man scrambled up the bank ; it was Hayes . The policeman who had heard the noise turned on his lantern , and saw the prisoner standing in front of him ; " he appeared stupificd at tho time , and seemed to tremble very much ; he . sighed ami shivered , and could scarcely be ordered away from the spot . "
What if ho had been seized there and then , and told " to account for himself , '' not only as tho vagrant is , but morally and biographical ! y . Most likely he would not have answered , ignorance and a dull untrained mind could never stand apart from itself to define and describe its action , as the judge or the jury can do , who have to tlocide upon the man's degree of guilt . Uul iTsomo supernatural power had boon given to him , and he could have related the path through which ho had arrived at that place , what account would he have given F What a horrible sl ; ory would have boon unfolded of blind rages—of evanpeivitiona of dim problems . struggling in the breast for solution and unable to work 1-hcuiHol . ves out :
bursting into mad actions because hopeless of ; i patient , disentanglement . ' ! What Was hi . s homoP Probably muted with a brutish , exasperating , repulsive wommi , afterwards hi . s creditor . Tho horrible trnnslbrination of thai , which ho onco lovetl , into that which ho loathed— loathed Mio more because , by Homo change inexplicable ( , <> the mind , although known in fact , it stood beforo his conscience claiming tho obligations which he had incurred to the object , loved . What strange , wayward passage from some rude and bnil . nl enjoy monl , of life , to Avhat moralists cull its yterti realities—from " sweetheart ing" and Greenwich , to a home dull in ideas , beggarly in equipments ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 17, 1853, page 11, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_17091853/page/11/
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