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MAf 24, 1851.] «ff fttatff* 487 ¦ *- • ¦...
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A COLONY AND ITS GOVERNORS. "Why did you...
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PHILLIPSS FIRE ANNIHILATOR. It is astoni...
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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Transcript
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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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The Real Aggression On Liberty; And Engl...
Four foreign powers are understood to have sent their functionaries to this country . One is the Pdpe , who sent Cardinal Wiseman and his Bishops ; but that was done openly , and we all know that not a man oT them possesses any actual authority . The other three powers are , Austria , Prussia , arid France * wild are said to have sent over here their Police . If this has been done , it was fiot done openly . Now the Police of those three countries are not in the
habit of exercising merely speculative or spiritual authority ; they are the direct ; and practised agents of Absolutism ; afad their presence ift this countrycan serve ho useful purpose ^ They datihot help any English interest , or fray Liberal interest t they can only endanger both . It is ah alarming feature in the rumour , that they ai-6 described as being the " assistants' * of our Police—the teack & $ , it should be said . And it has been asserted that these agents come at the express desire of Lord Palmerston !
Reviewing , then , this startling progress abroad , aftd this no less startling intrusion upon our dwti land , is it difficult to understand the real nature of the conspiracy denounced by Lord John Russell ? Here is the real " aggression , " here the real " insult to the Sovereign . " It is evident that while his Ecclesiastical Titles Bill is neither demanded by the exigency not suited to it , another sort of measure is urgently needed . He should make one more sweeping change in the text , follow up his deriunciation of the foreign conspiracy by a direct measure , at least to repel the encroachments of that conspiracy on our own country ; arid alter his bill so as to make it one " for preventing the intrusion
of foreign Police into England , or the assumption of any constabular titles or power based on the authority of any foreign Prince . * ' We can imagine that such a measure might entail Cabinet dissensions not less embarrassing than the original bill ; we can imagine that the whole power of the conspiracy , arid all the consummate ability which it can command in this country , would be arrayed against Lord John ; but it is not danger that will make a Russell flinch from his duty—on the coh- > trary , if anything can make him vacillate , it will be the perfect ease and obvious expediency of the requirement . Of all times , however , the present is the one when he ought least to hesitate in taHng his long-appointed command of the Channel Fleet .
Maf 24, 1851.] «Ff Fttatff* 487 ¦ *- • ¦...
MAf 24 , 1851 . ] « ff fttatff * 487 ¦ * - ¦ — : — : : — : _ : - ¦ ' ¦ : --- — ¦ ¦ - ¦ - ¦ ¦ ¦¦ - * ¦ ¦ - ¦ - ...... . . . , -. , . _— , ,. - » ., . ¦¦ . » - ¦ . — -- ¦ - ^ J ^ - .. _« , — -.-. , , - ,, - . . .. . — , . . , ,,- .. . ¦ .-.. . ¦ ¦ i ¦ i ia i -
A Colony And Its Governors. "Why Did You...
A COLONY AND ITS GOVERNORS . " Why did you say that we should not be inundated with felons ? " cry the people of Van Diemen ' s Land to Sir George Grey . His reply is affecting : " I uttered the language of hope rather than experience " ! Poor little George ! he had not been long in public life , and , a year or two back , he entertained youthful delusions , as to the perfectibility of Van Diemen ' s Land ! But he now confesses hia fault—the youthful indiscretion of "inexperience" ; and who will not forgive him ?
It was a pardonable error—pardonable , we would fain trust , even in Down ing-street ; but he is obliged to confess that he uttered " the language of hope "— and to the Colonies ! It was indeed dangerous . How dangerous , the plain Englishman may scarcely perceive without some explanation . There is not a group of colonies in the empire without some serious grievance . The relation of the North American colonies to the Mother country received a great shock on the completion of free trade ; that revolution ? , patronised in I ) owning-street as it was , left to those colonies very little that could
be considered decidedly advantageous in the connection with the Mother country ; especially as the Government at home did nothing to warrant that connection by keeping up a supply of capital and people , —the very life of new countries . But " colonization , " however beneficial to colonies , to our pauper-ridden districts , and to the emigrants themselves—however feasible with the resources that Government can command , —in troublesome to the Office at the bottom of DoWning-street ; and so it is not pressed upon that genteel bureau , except by colonises , country gentlemen , public-spirited
persons at home , and other remote classes . The proposal of a great colonizing railway [ which we shall explain in our next number ] , offered an opportunity for proving the utility of the connection ; but Ministers hesitate and are rather oool ! Again , the Went Ihdiea , injured by Negro emancipation , are hhrnpered , slighted , thwarted , vexed , injured , and disaffected . The Australian eokmies * growing fttll of people and wealth , as they have Always been in * telllgent urtd energetic , are outraged at the continuance of the Convict nuiaawc * $ and Van Di * rm « t '& Land is really sinking into thfc po & ityoft « tf ~ " —^ rtrt
we d 6 not like to carry our plain speaking to siifeh excess ^ just here , as to d & scribt the State of VSn Diemen ' ri Lfcnd : it is the state which New South Wales * by peremptory threats , has recently escapedj the state which the Cape of Good Hope would not irt any manner permit ; the State Which i * exenv plined in the doomed cities > abandoned try Lot > and sunk under the Dead Sea . Only it ia worse ift
modern times ; as you can well imagine ) when twenty thousand and more of picked reckless felotrt , without women , air © turned loose in a colony , cdn * Liinlrtg- about twenty thousand children . tVkttt > ybn shudder tb think > of % Van IHiM * e * * 4 Lmd is how actually enduring—in her chiklreft ^ ifl her ^ -1 - inatdenx , we were going to SAy J ill W youth . Do you undewtand ? As Dante says ,
" Noit ragiohlain di Id * , ma guarda e plasfca : " Talk not of them , the felons ; but look , aad pass them by . To the colony , thus oppressed , Sir Greorge Grey had addressed "the language of hope . " It was dangerous ; especially as the colony had been in despair before , and is now remanded to that despair .
He had gone further ^ he had " expressed news which were right in the abstract " : this shows how inexperienced he must have been in the office . But he is getting on : he has now learned " the practical difficulties in their execution "—the true slang of your old offender in office ; who finds that all things " right in the abstract " are , —in office , though only there , — " practically difficult . "
He throws doubts on the wishes of the colonists to get rid of the convicts—a large portion of whom are made friends by miseducation and misgovernment at home , and an impossible existence in the colony ; he doubts , because the colony is growing " wealthy" by help of convictism . The man does not perceive that New South Wales , which also grew wealthy in that way , has repelled the nasty * revolting , inhuman aid ; but it is difficult to make your thorough political ceconomist , your " practical man , " and especially your Whig , understand that a community can revolt from a system which
creates human fiends , and exposes your children , boys and girls , to be the playmates of those fiends , if it also " ere ttes wealth . " Evidently poor " inexperienced " George Grey has not got so far in his studies as that . What is more , the House of Commons is not beyond him ; and the House <> f Commons " represents" the English people ; so that , in sober sadness , what the colonies can do to escape being governed by inexperienced George , with such appalling consequences as we have indicated , is not at all clear—unless they cut the matter short , by cutting the connection ?
Phillipss Fire Annihilator. It Is Astoni...
PHILLIPSS FIRE ANNIHILATOR . It is astonishing how inclined men are to hug evil , and how slow to avail themselves of good . Many an ill—universally admitted—remains unredressed , because people not only choose to doubt the remedy , but even refuse to look at it . The amount annually paid for insurance against loss by fire is an evidence that men consider their goods and chattels to be in constant jeopardy ; but property is not more valuable than life , and many a man who has just paid his last quarter ' s premium , to insure his property , goes trembling to bed as he considers thB receipt will avail him nothing if the fire-escape arrive too tardily , or if he be suffocated in his sleep . It is a horrible tiling to be burned to death . Barbaric nations know no more deadly torture . The Inquisition , in itw most refined cruelties , used fire h * its climax . The world is foretold to he thus
destroyed ; and the idea of eternal torment is most graphically described as " everlasting fire . " Human nature , shrinks with instinctive horror at the thought of being consumed alive . We know instances of persons enduring nightly torture through fears of this description . They will await the departure of the lust guest , order their servants to bed , and then with trembling steps will they nearch through the house in the dark , the better to discern the minutest trace of fire .
All thiH In ho miserable that one would imagine men would clutch at anything that promised a reprieve from such a Htate of anxiety . It in not ho , bow & vef . Of the thousands who so suft ' or , but a few hundreds are to be found wending their way t < # th * VttuxhaJl Ga « Works to witnes * the weekly efcperteftent Which proves ike to b « no longer a Master ,, fly a singular" clfcUritftttuice a vapoilr is disborered In which flame cantio * exist ; nn instrutrtent la invented which promises the moat perfect immunity from fire to life And tttepttty ; and ywt ail
Mankind do riot rash in a btidf to avail them * elve bf the HdyAittftgeff The ** Fire Atttlifclltftdr" consists of a very simple rifctetfitt e , girrrikr iff appearance to a watering-pot , a « J equally portable , ffi this id a block of cornpoefcidru ki tlte centre of which is a bottle containing arnfttnte « f chlo « te of potass and toaf sugar * ton ! Sit tins etentir © of that again is deposited a very UnttOJ tohinl <**« ainini ? a black tttysteriqais-lodkihg
ttuid . "Wlktt charged , the instrument is perfectly Isafe and fcaytnleftft , and may be kept in any convebtatai patt of the pteinises * When it is required for use , the phial is broken by an instrument provided for the purpose , and immediately a vapour is generated , whkh , according to the siie of the machine , is cotripetenfc to put out a fire in the grate , or to extinguisk the flames that fill a dwelling-Lous * bT a ship .
It is well known that water has no power whatet «* oyef flame . The most it can do is to damp the adjacent buildings and so prevent their catchingfew , or to teach the seat of the inflammable materials and render them unfitted for combustion . But , white Water in toUlionsof gallons may be poured through a bofiy of flame without producing the slifcbtest effaet upon it , the power of the " Fire Attnihitettor" is peculiarly exhibited in ita mastery over flame .
The eiperfanents at Vauxhall , which we have now witnessed foxi * times , have convinced our own mind of the perfect eflicacy of this agent . A small model of a ship filled with shavings , resin , and turpentine , is fired . Water is thrown plentifully upon it , with no result . But on the application of the " Annihilator" the flames are instantly subdued . The principal experiment is on the model of a threestory dwelling-house , erected at the end of one of the gashouses . This building is filled with the most inflammable materials , such as shavings steeped in resin and pitch , pine planks , and other timber . It is amusing to see how close the spectators approach before it is fired , and afterwards how they rush to the furthest extremity of the building . The
flame wreathes up the pillars of the model , crackles furiously , and rushes with awful rapidity half way along the roof of the gasbouse . The alarum-bell rings . People begin to be frightened , and are half enraged for having trusted themselves within the building-. The smoke envelopes every object : you can scarcely see your neighbour at your elbow ; it chokes you , and you prepare to rush out at the door . Suddenly a furious crackling in the neighbourhood of the model tells you that something has happened—the flame recedes—it is extinguished . The air is more breathable , and the smoke rushes in torrents through the pigeon-holes at the top of the building . The ground floor is now comparatively clear , people rush towards the smouldering embers , and an enthusiastic cheer tells that they
appreciate the invention . One more experiment is given to show how the " Annihilator" will purify a room of smoke in order that firemen may search for half-sufibcated bodies . In the open air a large tub is filled with gas tar , and the top covered with shavings . When this is set on fire , the whole yard is filled with asmoke so dense as to baffle description . The machine is brought to hear upon the burning mass , the flames are immediately extinguished , the smoke changes to the colour of steam ; and one more cheer is given hy those who liad hitherto doubted the powers of the " Fire Aimihilator " in the open air .
There are , however , persons who grant that the invention is successful on this scale , but they doubt its eflicacy in the case of " a genuine fire in a dwelling-house . " Such persons are neither just to the inventor nor to themselves . They are perfectly warranted in doubting , but not in leaving their doubts unresolved . The matter is too serious to admit of careless indifference . It is an affair of life and death as well au of salvation and
destruction of property . If the " Fire Annihilator ' bo hut a toy , let it be proved and used hm kiicIi . Huf , if it be reully what it pretends , let it \ ni instantly provided in all parishes , and let it In ' , used iu all dwelling-houses . Let it l > o found nidi ' , by nidi- , with the firc-tiHcape and the tnginca of the fire brigade . If it is not u fraud or a delusion , to forego ita proffered Htu : iirity in nothing Jess than suicide .
Hut as everything in Kngland- —even life—must be brought drwh to tho commercial standard , we mar remark Lbat there is in almost every dwellinghouse , independentl y of human life , tint which no policy of insurance can puitaihly cover . The family pictures fend pi " * * handed down as heirlooms from i / onoration to generation , what inaurance-qHice can
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 24, 1851, page 11, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_24051851/page/11/
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