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    June 23, I860.] The Leader and Saturday ...

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    have a better chance - .of employment, t...

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    LORD CHELMSFORD'S BILL. To the Editor of...

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    FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE. SPECIAL, Lucerne...

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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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    June 23, I860.] The Leader And Saturday ...

    June 23 , I 860 . ] The Leader and Saturday Analyst . 595

    Have A Better Chance - .Of Employment, T...

    have a better chance - . of employment , the labour of the rest being ' so far reduced . Now , can men be actuated , by a nob er feeling than this ? Is it not to remember practically the words , "We , then , that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak ? " Did master builders evince the same concern for " the weak , " would not the poor-rate be immediately reduced ? The fraternal feeling , nay , the Christian charity , which these operatives manifest towards the less prosperous of their fellow-workmen , is such , Sir , that were it general , very different would be the state at this moment of our marnmonisiug- country . Let any candid person think of the thousands of pounds which are yearly raised by the Amalgamated Engineers alone , for the relief of the necessities of those temporarily incapacitate ' d for labour , and he would ever after frown down the remotest insinuation that combinations of working-men are injurious to the interests of society . „ -, ¦' ,-. But this claim for the reduction of the hours of labour is

    supported bv other considerations . When were master builders living * in such style and luxnry as at present P Now is it just and right that they should enjoy all the benefits of labour , whilst the real producers of that greatly increased wealth should ever remain but as " hewers of wood and drawers of water , " in a state of servitude incapable of amelioration ? The amount of knowledge , too , which they have acquired by dint of the most laudable perseverance , rather than reaped from any educational privileges which the more favoured classes have offered them , constitutes just ground for appeal to the good sense of their fellow countrymen . "Nonornnis mortar , " is the assured number

    conviction of thousands and tens of thousands of their . They would fain , then , convinced as they are of their imperishable nature and boundless capacities , secure to themselves at least some portion of everv day to spend in a manner becoming those who know and feel that " Tis the divinity that stirs within us , " which produces that ¦ " longing after immortality , " which will not suffer them to remain on a level with those " brute beasts" which work , and eat , and die , going to their own place , and coming not again into existence . No doubt many a master builder deems it his interest to keep from his men such knowledge , but he is .-mistaken .. Those are the men , after all , to give , him a fair day ' s work for a fair day s

    wages . , And the spirit with which these magnanimous men are animated , as it regards their children , is no less commendable . They tell us that they would fain see the daughters of their fellow-labourers preserved from augmenting that now devastating torrent of demoralisation , which , . " Libitur , et Jabetur ia onine vciubilis aevum / ¦ unless their natural protectors are enabled to preserve them from the ways of the destroyer , by having more time for theperformance

    of home duties . . . That you , Mr . Editor , are ready in these vacillating times to demand that an impartial hearing be granted to operatives as well as to the capitalists that enujloy them , is a fact which inspires with hope all sincere lovers of justice . While too many of , your contemporaries are maligning and misrepresenting these our fellowcitizens and fellow-labourers , there are those who will not cease to rejoice that the Leader is distinguished not less by its eminent talent than by its ardent love of equity . —I am , Sir , faithfully yours , ¦ \ . . RlCHART * TTt ^ BS , ...... _ . „___ . Incumbent of the N 6 w Church of England Chapel , Edinburgh , 1 , Grea . Stuart Street , Edinburgh , June 13 th , I 860 .

    Lord Chelmsford's Bill. To The Editor Of...

    LORD CHELMSFORD'S BILL . To the Editor of The Leader , and Saturday Analyst . Sib , —The Leader being devoted to the progress of truth , will you permit me to lay before its enlightened readers an excerpt of a letter ofthe Rev . Richard Hibbs , M . A ., to the Clerical Secretary of the Lord's-Day Observance Society , on " the Sabbath question . " The latter had beau challenged by Mr . Hibbs to a public discussion , which he declined . —I have the honour to be , Sir , faithfully yours ; PlIILALETHES .

    EXCERPT . " But , sir , there is one point touching this reading of the Deca * logue in our Liturgy , which may have escaped you , as I confess it did me for years . When , in the Communion Service , you read 'God spake these words , and said , I' am the Lord thy God ; thou shalt have none other gods but me , ' are you aware that you seriously mutilate the words qf Jehovah P In Exodus xx ., from which , we profess to quote , the passage runs thus : ' God spake nil these words , saying , I am the Lord thy God , which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt , and out of the house of bondage . Thou shalt have no other gods before me . ' Having discovered during the recent discussion of

    ' the Subbath question ' in this city , the effect which tins suppression produces in some minds , I have formed , I trust , the unalterable resolution never again ,. whether ia England or Scotland , to rend that portion' of the Divine Word except in its entirety . There is also found in this Prayer Book version the substitution of the word ' seventh * for ' subbath . ' In my present ministrations I rend the whole us found in . our Bibles . Let me hope , Sir , that you , as a conscientious minister of the Word , will do the same without feur of tho consequence . Better to suiter ourselves to be ' ¦ put out of the Church , ' than to ' diminish ought' from thut ' Word which liveth and abideth for ever . ' I trust we both consider ull such 4 pious frauds' ns nothing less than impious perversions of immutable truth . "

    Foreign Correspondence. Special, Lucerne...

    FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE . SPECIAL , Lucerne , 14 th June , 1860 . PARTING WORDS . / " | 1 HE summer , or , rather , the : summer time , has come at -1- last . The stork flocks are flying northwards , to their deserted straw-built nests , by the side of the dull sluggish streams of Holland . The swallows are twittering again beneath the eaves of English farm-houses ; and in the track of the storks and swallows the tribe of northern winter wanderers through Italy are hastening homewards . It is true , the Italians

    tell us that we leave too soon . It is in the broad summer sunlight that Italy should aright be seen . When the sun burns down upon the deserted streets , and the dirt is scorched into dust , and the vineyards are red with grapes , and the malaria-stricken labourers gather in the rich corn harvest—then , so say those who ought to know , is the time to behold Italy in its deadly beauty . We English , however , are a gregarious people—a very nation of Panurge's sheep . What one does , we all do . So we are all crowding to the north—I who write amidst the number , —and the great " natural frontier " of the Alps , covered still with snow down to its lowest valleys , lies between us and the southern land . and

    While , then , the recollections of what I have seen passed through are as yet those of yesterday—while the labels of Italian stations are still fresh upon my trunks , and the accents of the German tongue still sound harshly strange upon my ears , I would fain trouble you with a few parting words . It is too much to hope that a series of letters * written at hazard and read by chance , should leave any distinct impression on the reader ' s mind . For the benefit , however , of that ideal reader , in whose existence every writer believes with a faith that passeth understanding , I will seek to point out certain conclusions to which my observations have led me . Out of many truths I have chosen three , —one for the past , one for the present , and one for the future . These truths I have thus selected because they are only too true , and because their existence seems to me too often denied at home ; as such

    they are worth recording . First , then , with regard to the past . Italian liberty , the very existence of an Italian nation , is due to France ^ and to France alone . This truth is one , I am aware , not popular amongst our volunteer enthusiasts ; but , both for good and for evil , it is true , and is felt throughout Italy to be true also , The questions about the annexation of the Duchies , the autonomy of Tuscany , and even about Sicily itself , were , all-important as they seem now , mere questions of detail a year ago . The vital question-was then . the overthrow of Austria . " As long as the Austrian armies held their own , the petty tyrants , of Italy were secure ; so long as they remained satraps of the German oppressor , lor Italy there was le for bare

    no hope . The very existence of Sardinia was a strugg life . Under most favourable circumstances the Italians had sought to expel the Austrians by their own efforts . The trial had been most gallant , but most unsuccessful . The proud saying , 'L Jtalia fara da se , " had become a bitter mockery . The fear of France alone deterred the Austrians from annexing Piedmont alter the battle ofNovara . Without foreign help it was physically impossible , as tar as human foresight could tellpfbinrt ^ y - t ^ fi ^ e--hei'gelf-rEnglaTrdi whether right or wrong , had refused all aid , save that of good advice . In the hour of her deepest distress Italy turned to France , and was not refused . It seems-a- small matter now , to have driven the Austrians out of Lombardy . It did not seem so . before the event . It was no idle risk that France ran ; no empty sacrifice that France made ; no barren reward that she won , and deserved to win de if for higher tiveEnglishmen

    . For common cency , no mo , should , in the matter of Italy , give France the credit that is her due Even if the " good Samaritan " had charged his protege subsequently somewhat heavily for attendance , a sneer at Ins philanthropy would come but ungracefully from the Levite and the Pharisee , who walked by on the other side . To do them justice , the Italians , as a nation , feel their debt of gratitude , and confess it openly . Indeed , tho feeling of Italy , with regard to J « ranee and England , may be easily understood . It is one which , on a smaller scale , is seen daily in ordinary life . Everybody , I suppose , has had a friend embarrassed for money—some of us a very intimate triend . Well , lam speaking , bo it remembered , from that friend s confessions . A time comes when the immediate possession ot a , certain sum of money is a matter of your ruin or safety—if not of hie or death . You have got two friends who can both lend the money . You go to the first , and he tells you that he feels for youv trouble , that unfortunately he makes it a matter of principle not to _ interfere in after

    other people's concerns ; but that he is sure it you look your small expenses , and keep a strict account of every pe «» y yo « spend , you will find yourself much richer some day or other . With a heavy heart you go to the second , mid he at onco brings out the money : and though he may charge high , gives you what you want . Now , neither of your two friends were , obliged to help you . One of them saved you , and the otlier left you to your own resourcea . Which of the two , so my embarrassed friend puts it , ure you most likely to foe ! grateful to P To the former , certainly ; more especially , he adds , cynically , if you think it probable that you may want a sVcond loan before many days are out Now , mutate nonmu , this parable is that of Italy . It is from France alone she _ hiw ¦ louud real help in time past . It is to Franco alone who looks for real , hdp in til > e to come . The only English statesman who over has done something for Italy- Lord Palmkuston M »« J ? knows how little tlmt something- n » , and never boast s ot im

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), June 23, 1860, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_23061860/page/15/