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May 22,1852.] THE LEADER. 491
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THE? SABBATH OF THE CRYSTAL PHCENIX. Art...
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ON THE CULTIVATION OP FLAX. III. IN allu...
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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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T«K Nb^T Experiment X^ Cabinet Makietg. ...
• < r is but ^ hethe * could with Lord S X- we ' know not . sphere would be serious vS ^ uips so serious / that we do not under-A l A how the Baronet of Ketherby can niake s iiS By Protectionists a Protectionist is ^ " ^ d t ^ 2 T am an opponent of Jjord . Derby , cries Sir T rnes and nence it is assumed that he is a supter ' of Lord John ! Russell--a non-sequitur P liich we are not authorizedto deny . It is true + lvit Sir James has always been a powerful ad' etive rather than a noun substantive- —a great « fpnant—an able administrator , rather than
^ S ^ rig inator . But the difficulty is this :-he has been tne second in the most successful cabinet of jrecent times ; and how he can consent to descend to the Russell level We do not understand . Tamberlit might as soon come out in a Bunn opera at prury-lane . Sir James has indeed in himself sufficient vigour to g ive force to any administration that he might join ; but that he should consent to be keeper , nurse , or garde malade to the invalids who have so lately retired from public derision , is an impossible anticipation . feeblenesshe miht
To men of ordinary , ggive an imparted energy * as an energetic lieutenant can make a common crew look alive , even under the feeblest of captains ; but knowingly to embark in an Anson expedition of combat and discovery , with a sick and superannuated crewy who will all specially want tending , is what we cannot understand of so shrewd a man . Onl y imagine how his time would be taken up , if he had to get Sir Charles Wood , to understand finance ; to keep Lord Grey from teazing the dolonies into rebellion , by sending gold instead of labour to Australia , or offering a constitution to Sandilli ;
to write the foreijgn despatches for the ex-cominissioner of the Exposition ; and all the while to keep Lord John from sinking where he stands . To drive a pig , a goose , and a donkey all at once , and to support a friend , several seas over , who is bent on making his bed in the dirt , —that would be the feat undertaken by Sir James Graham in joining the Ilussell corps . To expect ariy particular measures out of a man thus occupied would be delusion : as well expect a new edition of practical trigonometry from a TRamo _ Samee while he is balancing a German tree on his chin , and playing at balls with both hands . . ' . " .
From Mr . Gobden , of course , we should have a host of admirable measures , without delay . As he is a member of the Parliamentary Reform Association , we should , of course , have the quasiuniversal suffrage of ; that body . That the seats would be so distributed ^ however , as to fulfil his prophecy , as to the towns ruling henceforward over the counties , we may be assured . As he is a member of the Anti Knowledge-Tax Association , the taxes on knowledge would be forthwith abolished ; the deficiency of the revenue being
immediately made up by a large reduction of our military expenditure . The accession to office of so distinguished an ornament of the Peace persuasion would result in casting aside all Militia -Bills , national defence measures , and " nonsense " of that kind ; and we may be the more sure of it , since Lord John himself has advanced half-way mhis resistance to the militia as soon as it has been proposed by another Minister . That so distinguished and active a member of the Public school Association would introduce a complete
measure of secular education all will expect , and ot course will not expect in vain . For Mr . Oob-« on is not one of your vague declajmers ; he is not a more Liberal in feeling ; he is a practical roan , who always menns exactly what ne says , neither more nor less , —certainly not less ; and niany a man of moro extreme opinions might e . nter office with less certainty of practical results irom hia _ acceptance of power , than friends or foes can fool with regard to Mr . Cobden . We need scarcel y say that we do not agree in all the
mea-W I r > iat we anticipate from the Member for the ^ . " hiding ; but we are bound to await them with deference , and with a resolve to give them lair consideration when they do come , recbmmondod as they must be by his unadorned eloquence and able exposition . * no difficult y is to understand how Mr . Cobden ' ox Poot to penetrate the case-hardoned inert' 0 H 8 ot Jus chief that is to be ; or how he can hKi l n me llis aharP scissors only in a Whig to ft -Ihere can be but two alternative results " alI » anco . Among the lower aniraala which tli , T 5 ato by " gemmation , " it sometimes happons lb tll ° creature pu , ta forth a now portion of
itself , quite unlike the original being ; the old person then shrivels up and dies , and the new remains—a transformed substitute for the old creature . Thus , if the B-ussell zoophyte put forth a ^ Cobden branch , the Ilussell part may wither , die , and be shaken off } possibly leaving to the new part the new power of locomotion . In the other alternative , Gobden , like a Graham or a Peel , must consent to be for the time reduced to a Russell degree of inaction , —like a knife stuck in a bung ; and that , perhaps , is the inore probable way in which a Cobden would serve his
official apprenticeship to state-craft . For it is difficult to see how a " new man" could rally round him the old families , so as to stand alonea new man not professing any reverence for the ornamental or venerable part of pur institutions , and yet not backed by the working class " million / 'with whom he reciprocates so slightly in sentiment . They say it is impossible to prove a negative ; but to perform that impossibility as regards the practicability of making poor Lord John go once more on a pair of Graham and Cobden crutches , appears to be the only business open to such a Russell restoration .
May 22,1852.] The Leader. 491
May 22 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 491
The? Sabbath Of The Crystal Phcenix. Art...
THE ? SABBATH OF THE CRYSTAL PHCENIX . Art is in the agonies of preparing for a grand " flitting , " as the Scotch call it . The Koyal Academy hopes to get rid of its fellow tenant , the National Gallery , which is going to Kensington j part of the great Exposition has taken up a temporary abode in Marlborough House , as the Museum of Ornamental Art ; and the Crystal Palace is going bodily out of town , where a strong pubDc company is to provide a park for its reception and more glorious revival . Although driven away by the nobility and gentry at Kensington Gore , who detest anything so vulgar because so popular ,- —although abandoned by the official class , —its real creators / Sir Joseph Paxton and Messrs . Fox and Henderson , mean to preserve it by inviting the public help and the commercial interests of the many . A company , with a capital of 500 , 000 ? ., is to be raised in 5 Z . shares , with a directory and staff that ought to guarantee the honest fulfilment of the undertaking . So , although the Crystal Palace will fall , it Will rise again .
The Palace will be made a truly magnificent display of invention and taste for its human elements , of beauty and variety for its natural elements—an exhibition unknown to the world . Not only sculpture will be there—ancient as well as new—represented by casts ; but architectural remains will occupy every salient part of the building ; models of machinery will invite practical inquiry in less p icturesque positions ; working models Will exhibit the great staples in the process of manufacture ; geologj , mineralogy ,
and botany , will reunite practical science to natural beauty ; trees , shrubs , and smaller plants will illustrate the vegetation of the globe ; flowers of every clime and season will keep up a perpetual flush and shade of spring throughout the year ; and airy fountains , vying with the " Greal Waters" of Versailles ; will play their arching raufT The picture ia already before us , of mingled sculpture , foliage , architecture , and fountains , with , the wise recesses of science behind . The approach ought to be most easy . At
present Sydenham is named as the site , and we are told that a special railway , with stations atVauxhall , Waterloo , London-bridge , and the Bricklayer ' s Arms , will convoy the visitor to a station within the building . We see no mention as to the charge for railway , nor as to the cost of admission , —details properly postponed ; but we suppose that the directors will know how to raise a largo revenue by a broadb and therefore low , level of charges ; and wo presume that the working-man and his family will not be forgotton . Some question , indeed , may ariso as to the direction in which the Crystal Palace is to move ;
and we cannot regard tnat question ua u «» uv settled , for two reasons . There will bo tho railway charge ; but that can scarcely bo imposed altogether on Working-class visitors ; wlulo West End natives can scarcely over bo induood to go Eastward , oxcept to whitebait . On tho other hand , wo know that' a princely offer has boon made by a man whom rank arid nature have conspired to ennoble , which would lodgo tho Crystal edifice in what may bo called its native garden , right on the banks of tho Thames , in tho very high road of the London steam-boat p leasuring , and close to tho branch railway of tho South-woatorn .
the contemplation of those objects , might find an enlightened echo speaking back to the soul , informing its instincts * bidding them to come forth and not be ashamed , but , in the presence of nature and of art—of man's wisdom , which is hut the lowly pupil of the divine , —to learn from the works of God and the inventions of man , the immutable harmonies of the universe ; and so to guide humanity in its ever onward and ascending path , even as a divinely inspired instinct guides the wild bee to its nest , the flower to the light , the babe to its mother , and man to the temple where he may feel the spirit which rules over all .
The transfer of the Crystal Palace from an official commission to a private company should have this advantage , —thatit would be possible to open the place on Sundays . A deh ' ghtful retreat would thus be opened to the toiling public , cooped up jill the week , on the Day of rest , —a retreat for calm enjoyment , for decent and thoughtful recreation , A " better observance of the Sabbath" has never been so well secured . To us the project would want but one adjunct , —a neighbouring Temple ; truly " catholic , " where the truths illustrated by that pictured scene of living objects might be elucidated , where the spirit awakened by
On The Cultivation Op Flax. Iii. In Allu...
ON THE CULTIVATION OP FLAX . III . IN alluding , last week , to the ordinary methods of steeping flax , we must not be understood as including in our condemnation any particular improved manner of effecting this ? process , for it is very certain that advances have been made , in Ireland and elsewhere , on the primitive plan of poking a bundle of flax straw into a black Irish boghole , and allowing it to rot at leisure . Even by this characteristic slovenliness , however , we have seen that the produce of flax sometimes reaches one-eighth of the weight of flax straw , although we fear that , as a general rule , one-tenth would be nearer the mark . The fact that flax is more efficiently and rapidly
steeped in warm weather than in cold , led a certain Mr . Schenck to surmise that , if an even temperature of from 80 to 90 deg . could be maintained in the steepwater , the gum would be dissolved in a few hours , and the flax straw be ready for scutching . This discovery made , a patent was obtained , and the Royal Irish Flax Society , adopting the recommendation of their committee of management , composed of some of the principal spinners and manufacturers of Belfast , introduced
into their " ¦ Directions" to flax growers , some honourable mention of the patented plan . The modus operandi is simple enough , and might be made available for fanners with long purses , or for enterprising individuals who would follow the example of Irish speculators—i . e ., induce poor tenants to grow flax , buy it at their own price in the straw , seed and all , and then work it up according to law in a patent steeping apparatus , and pocket an enormous profit on sale of the flax to the spinners , no portion of which is shared with the grower . However open to objection the practical working of this plan may be , as applicable to tho wants of tho English farmer , tho improvement upon tho old plan seems to be so decided , that we give a short account of tho process , leaving them to apply to Messrs . Bernard and Koch , of Belfast , for terms of license , unless their own ingenuity can devise some method of arriving at similar results , without risk of an infringement of tins extraordinary patent . Laro-e vats aro constructed of wood , and , with tlio assistance of a small steam boiler , and a few coils of iron pipe , tho water contained in tho vats is maintained at an uniform tomperaturo of from 75 to 90 dcg . Fahrenheit . Into theso receptacles tho flux , freed from tho seed ( iy the purchaser , generally ) , is carefully laid- and when tho fibre separates readily from tho wood , which usually occurH in from sixty to eighty hours , it is lifted and spread upon tho grass for a space of about thirteen days , after which it is broken and scutched in tho ordinary manner . Wo annox the ro-Hult of four experiments inade last year in tho North of Ireland : — g " w l f Weight Produce . I Tlmoln oY-Aw ^ Xm - -- " * J ™ ° » b atoop . boforo tho ( . rtt 8 B - b ' lft 89 ' I , ; ; t doc . hours , owt . qra . lb . owt . qrB . lb . H » a . lb « . 80 72 4 6 0 !» () <> 031 23 13 flays , HO 8 a 4 0 0 3 0 0 01 10 10 „ flO 71 4 0 0 a 0 l < t «« 2 'A l . » >> ! . HO , 71 2 3 0 1 8 ]< t 47 8 *<> »» \ ' 14 ~* 3 0 11 0 0 | 21 ) 7 i | 73
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 22, 1852, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_22051852/page/15/
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