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Leader (1850-1860), 22nd February 1851, Edition Country of 2, Page 19

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    • dtyra Cntmril .».
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      "^ Letters To Chartists. Iv. The Unenfra...

      the uuenfrancised possess among us was better understood , better developed , and better disciplined , the people would become conscious of their influence , and acquire a better tone . They evidently do not know their own power , they so often behave like a man who wants to make an impression , and does not know how . He rants , and blusters , and swaggers ; but when a genuine man comes in of real strength , and who knows it , his self-reliance , quiet air , and resolute demeanour inform everybody that he is not to be overcome . He does not say so , he is too much in earnest to think it necessary . So it will be with the Sovereign people when they have once been taught their own power . Ion .

      Feb. 22, 1851.] &#£ &£&&£?, 183

      Feb . 22 , 1851 . ] & #£ & £ && £ ? , 183

      At The Weekly Meeting Of The Executive C...

      At the weekly meeting of the Executive C ommittee of the National Charter Association , it was moved by Mr . Reynolds , seconded by Mr . Harney , That the date for the assembling of the Convention be postponed until the first Monday in June , unless a dissolution of P arliament , or any other incident of great political importance should render it expedient to summon the Convention to meet at an earlier period , for the following reasons : —1 . As from the mass o f correspondence received , it appears evident that numerous localities require more time lo collect funds and accomplish the arrangements for the delegation . 2 . Because , after mature deliberation , it has been deemed advisable that the Convention should be

      held at a period when most members of the class especially interested in the cause of Chartism will be in London ; so that a good spirit may be inspired amongst them , and the work of proselytism may receive an impulse . 3 . Because the postponement will afford ample time for the whole Chartist public to discuss the programme of business to be submitted for the consideration of the Convention ; and 4 . Because , during the interval it is proposed that one or two members of the Executive shall visit the provinces , attend meetings , and assist in arousing the democratic spirit . " The resolution was adopted after a long discussion , Mr . Jones being the only dissentient .

      Iffisnaatitre $Ragra».

      Iffisnaatitre $ ragra » .

      V Important Petition. The Following Form...

      v IMPORTANT PETITION . The following form of petition ( by working men ) for the legalization of Industrial Associations has been sanctioned by the council of promoters ;— \ " To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled . " The humble petition of the several persons whose names are hereunder written showeth , " That your petitioners are persons supporting themselves by their labour in various handicrafts or trades , which they are desirous of carrying' on in common upon their own account for the support of themselves and their families . * ' That your petitioners have at present no means of associating together for the above purpose , under the sanction of the law , beyond the number of twenty-five , otherwise than under the provisions of the Joint Stock Companies Act , 7 and 8 Viet ., c . 110 ; but that the expense of registration under that act in most cases greatly exceeds their resources , whilst many of its provisions are either needless or even prejudicial , for the purposes of associated labour . " That if the old common lawof England applicable to partnerships had continued unaltered , your petitioners are advised that they would have been enabled to make such voluntary agreements as would have helped in carrying out the objects they have in view . " That the objects of your petitioners are analogous in many respects to those contemplated by the acts relating to Friendly Societies , which have been extended of late years to Building Societies and Loan Societies ; and that such objects could be readily carried out by the- machinery supplied by these acts . " Your petitioners , therefore , humbly pray that the provisions of the said acts relating to Friendly Societies ' may bo extended to all associations of working men formed for the purpose of carrying on their trade , labour , or handicraft , for the bent-fit of themselves and their families , in like manner as they have been extended to Building Societies and Loan Societies . " And your petitioner * will ever pray , & c . " r . . ( Signatures . ) [ the petitions may be written on paper , and they should be sent to members without covers , or in covers open at the sides , and will go by post free , if not exceeding the weight of thirty-two ounces . ] — Christian Socialist .

      , "He C°Mmittee Appointed To Take Advant...

      , "he c ° mmittee appointed to take advantage of the Exhibition of 1861 for the promulgation of the principles of Social Reform , met on Wednesday evening , when letters were read from Coventry , Hull , Edinburgh , and Aberdeen , stating that committees had been formed in each of those towns to assist the central committee in raising the necessary funds . The following letter from Mr . Owen waa also read : — Spring-grove , Ilounslow , Feb . 18 . IJkak Sir , — I approve the plan proposed by the committee , and 1 hope they will succeed in their object . The opportunity to diHseminatc important truths to nations in a short period has never before occurred under such favourable aunpiccs . Whatever I can do to promote this object will be most willingly done , and I will with pleasure wnte the tracts requested by the committee .

      My kind regards to each of the members , & c ., I remain , my dear Sir , yours truly , Roiikkt Owkn . Mr . Kenny , late president of the John-Htreet Institution , was uuauimoutily elected treasurer . Hai . h ax I ' i . ouk So < jikty . —Wo have received the ouiance-Bheet of the above Hociety , by which we are en-£ 4 W >> ' > u r , ocord the gratifying fact of a balance of « f . i m fttV <) ur of the society , being a clear gain « i tliat amount on the half-year ending Dec . . 51 , 18 . 50 . xnis result IB most satisfactory , and tends to show that « Vnrr ; U ) Cltt tIVO P « "o » pl « , » f intelligently and honestly « urriea out , must inovitably be attended with aucocaa .

      Dtyra Cntmril .».

      dtyra Cntmril . » .

      Pc01912

      [In This Department, As All Opinions, Ho...

      [ IN THIS DEPARTMENT , AS ALL OPINIONS , HOWEVER EXTREME , ARE ALLOWED AN EXPRESSION , THE EDITOR NECESSARILY HOLDS HIMSELF RESPONSIBLE FOR NONE . ]

      There Is No Learned Man But Will Confess...

      There is no learned man but will confess he hath much profited by reading controversies , his senses awakened , and his judgment sharpened . If , then , it be profitable for him to read , why should it not , at least , be tolerable for his adversary to write . —Wilton .

      Episcopal Titles. Feb. 12,1851. Sir,—Per...

      EPISCOPAL TITLES . Feb . 12 , 1851 . Sir , —Permit me to call your attention , and that of every . opponent of solemn " shams , " to thefollowing extract from the speech of Lord Ashley , delivered in the House of Commons last Monday . His lordship is reported to have said that : — " No one had proved , or attempted to prove , and it was his firm belief that no one was able to prove , that territorial titles were in any degree necessary to the exercise of episcopal functions . ( Hear , hear . ) A territorial title was a worldly and material affair . The office of bishop was a spiritual concern altogether . ( Hear , hear . ) Would any one venture to assert tnat Archbishop Wiseman could not exercise , within the jurisdiction assigned to him , archiepiscopal functions , unless he were called Archbishop of Westminster ? ( Hear , hear . ) It was , he knew , said that bishops of the Roman Catholic Church must have a local habitation and a name . Granted . Then why did not Dr . Wiseman call himself Archbishop of the Roman Catholics in Westminster ? ( Some laughter . )"

      Now , might not these words be justly retorted upon the Established Church , of which Lord Ashley is a member ? If territorial titles are not ' in any degree necessary to the exercise of episcopal functians , " and are , moreover , so" worldly and material , " why should they be retained by bishops of the Church of Eng land ? If the office of bishop be " a spiritual concern altogether , " why does his Iord 3 hip defend the temporal rank of his own ecclesiastical superiors ? Will any one venture to assert that

      Bishop Blomfield could not exercise , within the jurisdiction assigned to him , episcopal functions , unless he is called Bishop of London ? All the inhabitants of that diocese are not episcopalians , nor even Christians ; why , then , does not Dr . Blomfield call himself Bishop of the Anglo-episcopalians in London ; Protestant Dissenters have as much reason to call out against the insolence of Bishop Blomfield as Churchmen have to complain of the " aggression " of Cardinal Wiseman . F . G .

      Marriage With A Deceased Wife's Sister. ...

      MARRIAGE WITH A DECEASED WIFE'S SISTER . Feb . 10 , 1851 . Sir , —It will be in your recollection that the bill introduced by Mr . Stuart Wortley , after having twice gone through its several stages in the House of Commons , and the last year having even entered the House of Lords , was at last a remanetof the session ; and the sufferers under Lord Lyndhurst ' s act are again on the alert to reintroduce the new bill without delay to the Upper House . It is well known that the most factious opposition to this bill has pursued it at every stage ; and , were not the sufferers acutely feeling the . wrongs they and their children endure , they would long ago have given up the contest in despair . During u recent casual Hurvey of the important town of Birmingham , no Ichh than < S 00 persons were discovered who were living in defiance of the law . Thus a feeling of disgust is fast . setting in , which speedily will end in a . total disregard of till religious observances , unless common justice is obtained , and the law of God in not made a mockery of by so miscalling the canons of the Church , which are nimply the laws made by man for hi » own individual gain and advantage .

      Already various meetings are being holden in different parta of the country to petition tho House of Lords . There has been u Hplendid one at Birmingham , and a few days iigo a very large and spirited one at Sheffield . The opposition at both them ; meetings is drawn to a Hingle point . Is the marriage of n widower wiili tho sister of the decouned wife contrary or not contrary to the word of God ? Tho petitioners for Mr . Stuart Wortley ' n bill say—No . Tho Archbishop of Dublin and three or four other

      bishops say—No . Above 150 clergymen of the Church of England , and those the most distinguished of any in the land , say—No . But , above all , reason and common sense say—No also ! The canons of the Church , which can now only be referred to , are relics of the spiritual despotism of the dark ages , undermining the authority of all law , and causing thousands to break the laws of their country which otherwise would with cheerfulness have been obeyed An intelligent speaker at the Sheffield meeting observed .- — " Did these bigoted persons think that the people in this country were without their Bibles ? He had studied his Bible from his boyhood ; but he could not find a word forbidding these marriages which by the law of man are considered illegal . "

      At a meeting of gentlemen in London of those who are deeply interested in the subject it was resolved , " That , in our conscientious and deliberately-formed judgment , marriage with the sister of a deceased wife is neither contrary to God ' s word , nor repugnant to natural feeling" ; and again , " That the act commonly called Lord Lyndhurst ' s Act , being in opposition to the word of God , is consequently set at nought by all classes , and has thus occasioned wide-spread mischief , which nothing but its repeal can remedy . " The decisions of courts of law against the validity of such marriages have been manifestly founded upon

      an erroneous construction of the LeviticalCode , which expressly confines the prohibition to the marriage of a wife ' s sister in her lifetime . Leviticus , chap , xviii ., v . 18 . It would , therefore , be but common fairness to give likewise the chapter and verse where contrary passages are written ; but this the Tractarians , who are the chief opponents of Mr . Stuart Wortley's bill , are not able to do . However , these gentry have quite enough on their hands at the present ; let us , therefore , hope that , in their present humiliated state , their opposition in the House of Lords may not be quite so factious as for the last two sessions it has been in the House of Commons .

      There is no blood relationship or kin between the parties , and therefore no physical ground for the prohibition ; and very frequently the similarity of person , feelings , or habits , points out the sister as the most natural successor of a deceased wife , while she is almost invariably the fittest person to take charge of the motherless children . Let , then , the opponents of the unjust and cruel law , which was passed only fifteen years ago , join hand and heart in another , and it is justly hoped a last , effort to get the act of Lord Lyndhurst entirely erased from the Statute Book ! In the first place , it is a law contrary to nature ; and in the second place , it is a law at variance with the law of God . I am , Sir , your constant reader , Axfiied .

      The Working Men's Associations In Pa His...

      THE WORKING MEN'S ASSOCIATIONS IN PA HIS . Feb . 18 , 1851 . Sir , —I send you enclosed the translation of a letter lately received by Louis Blanc from one of the working men's associations which he founded in Paris . It is an interesting document , as showing the strength of those affections which this most practical of the French Socialists excited in the breasts of men who , by the noble sentiments which still animate them , by gratitude to their benefactor , and by their determination to work out a great principle have manifested that they are worthy of such a friend . —J . E . S . " raria , Jan . 1 , 1851 . Dkar Citizbn , —We cannot allow the new year to pass without communicating to you our fondest wishes and affection . " Our fraternal association ( here follows the name ) , the child of your exertions , lias never forgotten the debt it owes to your noble and generoua efforts . As the defender of our liberties , and protector of our emancipation , your name , dear citizen , will ever be revered and loved by each individual member . " May these few words , the inspirations of perfect sincerity , dictated by our hearts' affections and gratitude , alleviate the sorrows of your exile , and give you the courage to wait , yet patiently , the hour of your deliverance , which is indeed the object of all our aspirations and our hopes . " Accept , dear citizen , our fraternal greeting . " ( Here follow 65 names of the members of the association , and their director ; which , us well as the name of the association are omitted , lest the advocates of so stanch a Republican should be visited with vengeance by the present Republican Government . )

      The Edinburgh Review On Socialism. La-Ml...

      THE EDINBURGH REVIEW ON SOCIALISM . lA-mlu . Jan . W , 1851 . Sin , —I am glad to see that the Edinburgh llevivw has taken up the cudgels against Socialism . Believing that on tluH subject wo have the beat of tho argument , all we desire is the fullest discussion . One of the fundamental errors of tho reviewer seems to Hpring from his confounding monopoly with association . Somehow he cannot undcrNttmd regulations made for tho benefit of the whole and restrictions made for the benefit of n clasn . My space will not allow me to cite example of this ; but un attentive reader of the article will detect repeated instances of it . Of the employment and organization of our sur-

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 22, 1851, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_22021851/page/19/