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September 20,18&6.] THE LEABER, 903
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THE CHARTISTS AND THE CHAB-TEK. hii Op c...
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1 f 1 r t ± * a ( c t a ( i < ( i i < - ...
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- - - . - , - , ,. - and , ;_ MB. DISRAE...
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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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September 20,18&6.] The Leaber, 903
September 20 , 18 & 6 . ] THE LEABER , 903
The Chartists And The Chab-Tek. Hii Op C...
THE CHARTISTS AND THE CHAB-TEK . Op course , when the admirers of Mr . Johit Tkost assembled last Monday to give him a piiblic welcome , ttey expected to be ridi- culed : They expected that shopkeepers would smile derisi-vely as they went by , and that middle-class newspapers would call them " dregs . " That is the fashion of our times , and it has no effect except in tending to a separation of interests and feelings in the different orders of the community . The per- ions who composedthe ' demonstration' were not the dregs of ihe populace , but for the most part * espectal ) le men—quite as respect- -able as the shopkeepers whose windows they did not break , or the gentlemen who described them in one-line as an " immense concourse , " and in another as " the dregs of the demo- cracy . " They maintained excellent order , molested no one , and received so little pro- tection from the pickpockets , that on Prim- rose-hill , where avast meeting had assembled , only a single police constable was in attendance — -offduty—to represent the constituted forms of society . Indeed , a large proportion of the persons present were hard-working artizans , audit cannot be disputed that they had as clear a right to offer an ovation to Mr . Fbost ? is other folks have to present a sword to the Earl of Cakdigait , or an address , full of unctuous flattery , to the French Emperor . If it be said they nurse conspiracy in their hearts , that they desire to overturn the constitution under which they live , that their hero had caused some bloodshed , and would have risked a civil war , so did Xiotris Napoleon , on a much larger scale , and with infinitely less reason for his discontent . If we discuss the matter with our working-class friends , it is distinctly upon the ground that their en- tliusiasm is as much to be respected as that of any otljer class , and that they have an indisputable right to choose the objects of their public praise and-welcome . - Having said this , we are the more at liberty to say that we object altogether to such a demonstration as that of Monday last . In poijit of fact , it was purely sectional , and not ^ representative of that" large body of men formerly known sis Chartists , Those who know how this body has been . split ' up will l 3 e enabled to estimate the value of the pro- cession and the address , when they learn that only two or three divisions out of seven or eight figured in them . Indeed , we may almost say it was an act of folly to pretend that the Charter ngitation is alive , or that its ¦ vitality was manifested on the occasion of Mr . Ekost ' s return . The Charter has been dead evei * since the hoax of the monster petition . Assuming , however , that which may not be assumed—the political existence of the Chartists as a body—the demonstration was singularly indiscreet . "Why cannot men , advocating " their political claims , avoid exaggera tions , and theatrical puerilities ? "Why do they apply the colour of the Continent to their oratory and their emblems ? The phrase " The Archangol is here : his name is Demo cracy , " is one at which every seriously-edu cated man , artizan or not , must smile . It is therefore , damaging to their cause . " Fuost Wilmiws , and Jones , the victims of tyranny , " is still more objectionable . Was . John J ^ rost a victim of tyranny ? With every disposition to sympathize in the sen timents of a great class , aspiring to an im proved political position , we must say th the ex-Mayor ot Newport , let his motives have been what they may , fell naturally under the sentence of the law- A government mot a government unless it suppresses insur rection , and a law is not a law unless its violation , bo punished . Now , Joiin Fkost violated the law of the land , assisted in ¦
hii Ftn aD °° ™ n vo S d € re 9 * J tl ] P m k ] n P : *| r < P **' ¦* t ( ** * ' t ( ™ ^ c v ¦? t ] ?' insurrection by which several lives were lost , promoted it indirectly while he was still under ; the responsibility of his oath as a magistrate , and was fairly amenable to the penalties of a court of justice - "We will say nothing as to the justification of the Monmouthshire riots . They were unsuccessful , and , as they had involved bloodshed , as they had held up a dangerous example , and , demonstrably , came under the operations of the law against treason , resulted , unavoidably , in a penal sentence awarded against their leaders . Then " Hail , brother victim . ! " is an outcry which proves that the men who utter it are deficient in political knowledge . The English Government is not a . despotism , as they ought to ¦ know , for were it a despotism , they would not have dared to meet , or to declaim , or to parade Mr . 3 ? kost in a carriage . Moreover , their hero would never have reappeared in the streets of Xondori to receive their exaggerated eiilogies . He would have been put to death -under martial law , or kept in chains for life , or buried in some prison depth ; but he would never have been allowed to exclaim , upon a hill-top , close to the metropolis , that he bitterly detested the class that governed the country . The working classes have , politically , much to do , and muct to acquire , but their old methods are of very doubtful wisdom . To those who are susceptible of persuasion we would suggest one remark . Let them listen to one of their orators , hoarse with pasBion : could he talk of slavery and oppression more violently if he were suffering the tyranny of Austria ? And the difference between Austrian and English principles of government represents the difference between the Chartist sectional leader and the practical politician . . s I l L s L : > l ¦ ; ;
1 F 1 R T ± * A ( C T A ( I < ( I I < - ...
1 f 1 r t ± * a ( c t a ( i < i i < - , - - , , - - at is - an THE PHILANTHROPIC CONGRESS AT BRUSSELS . There have been five international Conferences at Brussels within the last ten years . The subjects of discussion have been—commerce , the penitentiary system , agriculture , the public health , and statistical science . In the present year two will be added to the number , the Free-trade Congress , which is about to assemble , and the Philanthropic Congress , which assembled last week . Its object , as defined by M . Charles Kogier , the President , is to discuss the means by which the material position of the industrious classes may be improved . Plans for their intellectual and moral elevation are to be ' considered afterwards in succession . The Congress , divided into three sections , will ¦ first discuss and report upon the means of subsistence possessed by the workman in ; connexion with agriculture , political and s charitable economy , science , industry , and i machinery and inventions calculated to faci litate manual labour . It will also consider . the sanitary condition of the various trades > and professions , and ' the ameliorations pos > sible in the dwelling-houses and clothing , of -the poor . A number of collateral . topics are to be introduced when the opera - tions of the Congress are suQicieiily advanced , Among tho English representatives at the , Congress are , the Honourable "William f Cowfeb , of the Board of Health , Lord s Stanley , Mr . Chad-wick , Sir JortN Bams i den , Colonel Sykes , Messrs- Twining - WmiCWORTH , ItuSSKLL SOOTT , LiUMXEY , HlL - i-iEH , Sanddiison , Pope , Robb , Roberts , t and REDcntAVJc , with Dr . "Waiter Lewis s and Dr . "Wtld , all known as earnest' and ir active men , though some are Igbs popular a than others . Dr . Metz , too , is at Brussels - with Dr . Halm , from Wwrtemberg , Dr ; s Susani , from Milan , MM . Gosse , Viande t PA . cny , and Maynikk , from Geneva , n others from the great towns of Germany [ 3 3 I r e s \ f a
Spain , Italy , and Holland . 35 Tor should we forget to distinguish the name of Duopetiatjx , who is literally beloFed by the Belgian people . This , then , is a real Congress , though few of its memkis are accredited by their Governments . Or , rather , it should be described as a Oonferenee 3 the intension of Ifc 8 promoters being to deliberate upon the principles which , if applied , would enhance tlie positive well-being of the poor . As M . KoaiEB expressed it , some oi the ideas thus propounded and debated will be carried away by the four winds , or deposited in a barren soilj but others may fructify ; and , at all events , a concord of benevolent opinions established between th . e philanthropists of the several [ European countries cannot bub have a satisfactory result . Indeed , in reference to former assemblies of the kind , M . Sooieb , upoiL opening the first session , declared that several public bodies liad adopted positive reforms in their constitution and in their methods of action , under the pressure of the Brussels agitation ; and he pointed , as he was justified in doing , to the spacious hall of the Academy of the Muses , crowded in every part , to illustrate the interest tliat had been excited by tie plans of the Philanthropic Congress . Scarcely a civilized country in the East' or "West was without its representative . The idea dates from 1847 . At a conference on the subject of penitential establishments , lield in Brussels in that year , the proposal received an informal exposition ; and sixyears later the Statistical Congress resolved unanimously that it would be desirable foav a number of men belonging to different coun tries to unite , and to examine the possible methods " of improving the physical , moral , and intellectual condition of the poor and industrious classes . " In 1854 the International Charity Conference , held at Paris , resumed the consideration of this scherae , and the Congress now sitting was appointed to meet in Brussels . Among the questions to be determined , however , is one concerning " the place and time the most generally eonvenient for the future meetings of the Congrea de Bieaifaisance . " In addition to oral discussions , a system of international correspondence will be established ; a periodical . record of books , and documents connected with Avorl ^ s of philanthropy , will be publisted ; and local societies will l ) e formed ., in order to give a practical and permanent development to the idea . Without advocating the adoption , of any paternal policy towards the industrious classes , we cannot but admire the spirit and the purpose of the Brussels organization . ¦ ¦ ¦ .. .
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- - - . - , , , . - and , ;_ MB . DISRAELI'S EMENDS , x Tee public , in all probability , has not heard s of the latest posture assumed for Mr . Disi- baem by his friends . Having been employed g for six months in arg-uing that intensely inil teresting question— "What has become ot" the i- Tories ? they now exclaim that , wherever the i . Tories may be , the Bight Hon . Member for ie Bucks is among us . And what is the Right m Hon . Member for Backs ? The pioueer of d Social Reform , the architect of his own poli-3- tical fortunes , the representative of intellect a , as opposed to mere aristocracy . On these l- grounds his friends claim for him BOine part s , of tho public sympathy , promising that his is conservatism , in ofKce , will bo more progresid sive thaxi tlie indiscreet and insincere liberalur is in of other leaders . Is , These platitudes about mere rank , and Mr . r . Disraeli ' s intellect , do not come with much e- grace from , those high-bred gentlemen who , id I at the beginning of each session , count tho y , I dukes , earls , and largo proprietors at tho
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 20, 1856, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20091856/page/15/
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