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Ja*. 36 . 1861.] SE& * Q,tZ%tt. * 9 _.. ...
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LEISURE OF A DRAMATIC CRITIC. I have not...
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LiviinrooL Statistics.—From a return pre...
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AND ITS OFFICIAL ACTS.
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This page is accorded to an authentic Ex...
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DEVELOPMENT OF POLISH DEMOCRACY. [We res...
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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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An Episode In A History. Part Ii.—The De...
conversation " -was mournful , very earnest , yet not without a gleam of hope , a prayer for brighter days , a promise of better things . The same week I left the hospital the troop , of which I was such an illustrious and fortunate member , marched to Glasgow . As we entered that city of baiUies , kippered salmon , and minced collops , several of my fellow-students passed close by , without seeming to recognize me , and during the remainder of my stay at Glasgow as a soldier , I occasionally saw in the barrack-yard persons whom I well knew , but who did not appear to know me , though for fear of being seen by any old acquaintance I never went outside the barrack gates .
On the 5 th of July , 1832 , my military life closed . I dressed myself that morning in solemn black , and though I was glad to leave for ever scenes so little fitted to my character and tastes , yet it was not without a heavy heart that I bade my messmates adieu . After I had gone about a stone ' s throw from the * arrack « , I eould not help turning round to look at the walls for a few minutes , and to ponder on the past and the future ; and I could not avoid the
susp icion that in spite of what I had suffered I was still a dveamer and a fool . To thrust that suspicion and all gloomy thoughts quite away , I walked on as rapidly as I could till I came to the Broomielawthe Glasgow quay . I went on board a steamboat ¦ which I found ready to sail to my native village . It ¦ was a glorious summer ' s day , and as the vessel passed one well-known and beautiful spot on the banks of the Clyde after another , all the old romance
of my nature revived , and a destiny magnificent as the sky above me and the scenery around me once more seemed possible . As we came nearer the familiar cliflfe of my boyhood emotions and fancies of a different kind came rushing on my heart . I pictured the glad and welcoming faces of the father , the mother , the brothers , the sisters I was about to meet . As I stepped on shore a little child put its hand into mine and murmured my name , which he was scarcely able to pronounce distinctly . It was one of my brothers . Others of the family were also there . I
thought I had never felt so happy as that evening when we were all assembled at tea together . In the subsequent November I resumed my college life at Glasgow , my father having in the meantime paid the printer of " The Magician . " The regiment to which I had belonged was still in Glasgow , but I did not once go near the barracks . I often saw my former fellow-soldiers in the streets ; but it was easy enough to avoid meeting them , though when they were persons I had known well I was almost irresistibly impelled to rush up and seize them by the hand . It
would answer little purpose to append any elaborate reflections to such a record as this . Suffice it to say that I do not regret having been a soldier for a season . The hard and harsh necessities to which my course of existence then condemned me first awoke in me the conviction that life was a grand and Btern reality , not a vague aspiring or a fantastic amusement . The headlong impulses of my imagination have often carried me since into exaggerations and extravagances ; but in the midst of them all I could not forget that I had been trodden and lacerated by
tragio tacts , and that grim memory recalled me to myself . And , perhaps , my military career was only meant by Providence as a- foretaste of what I was destined to do and suffer ever after . For I did not cease to be a Boldier in ceasing to be a light dragoon . I havo fought for whatever I considered God ' a eauao with tongue and with pen , ever aiming to make , as fur as I could , truthful speech the companion of valiant action wherever placed , to whatever duty culled by the Captain of salvation . It ih u greut gain for us , it is the highest wisdom ut which wo can
arrive hero below , that we feel thoroughly and gratefully convinced that the finger of tho Holiest has led us on , haa directed all our movements , has never deserted , us for un instant though our pilgrimage him been little- but disaster , disappointment , and pnin , and in n worldl y sense it seems to have been tho moat miserable of fuilures . Ho who has taught himself amid cloud , and anguish , and iiuiesoaiit disease
the sublimest spiritual truths , and applied thorn to the humblest of his needs and deeds , him done n divine work , and ought to kiss the hand that haa bo tortured and triod him . Far be it from me to nay that I havo succeeded in doing all this ; but I have endeavoured strenuously thereafter , and , perhaps , tho flume and tho pertinacity of tho endeavour havo been gifts to jno from tho military hospital at Hamilton . Uod is great !
Ja*. 36 . 1861.] Se& * Q,Tz%Tt. * 9 _.. ...
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Leisure Of A Dramatic Critic. I Have Not...
LEISURE OF A DRAMATIC CRITIC . I have nothing to do : the theatres are dispensed from bringing out new pieces for the present ; so that success is not only beneficial to managers , actors , and authors , but also to critics . Not a single new piece am I threatened with ; not a new actor ; not even a revival . Old Love and the New at Drury Lane will be a stock piece for many nights—people seem to be very unanimous in its favour . Then as for King Charming there Is a perfect < v rage" to see it , and an universal " oh ! " choruses its triumph . At the Princess's Shakspeare and the Pantomime nightly fill the house ; so that no novelty is wanted there . At the Olympic , All that Glitters is Not Gold will keep its place and draw laughter and tears for some time to come .
My office is thus a sinecure . I am a gentleman at large , with nothing in the world to do . My conscience is at ease . For a whole week—or say a fortnight—I am sure not to be quarrelling with anybody , or rather not to have him quarrelling with me because I am base enoughjnot to admire him . That villany I am saved from . Then , again , I have my mornings to myself—free to ramble about the fields , or to sun myself in St . James ' s-street , without having to give myself a headache over profound criticism . My evenings , instead of being spent in a hot theatre , redolent of humanity , are passed serenely by the fireside , where I relax myself with a cigar and Aristotle , or an agreeable volume of Chrysottomi Opera . So that , when I am called into active service again , I can fling one of the Christian Fathers at the head of some
farcewriter with all the air of a man worthy to be a bishop . The farce-writer is indignant , no doubt , and cannot see " what that has to do with it . " But he secretly respects me as a man who reads bigger books than he does ; and thus I make my leisure profitable ! If , in the next few weeks , my articles become terribly erudite , you will know to what cause it may be attributed ; for I am now as idle as a gay , sparkling , light-comedy gentleman during the successful run of a lugubrious tragedy at the theatre which has the honour of his talents ; while the heavy fellows are nightly roaring themselves hoarse he has nothing to do but lounge during the day , and go to bed early . He is idle , and is paid as if he were worked to leanness .
Yet , candour before all things ! Let me confess that , just as the sparkling comedian to whom I have compared myself very soon gets tired of his idleness and thinks the heavy dogs have had their day , he being impatient once more to resume his position before the public , so I , though glad enough to let the heavy fellows thunder away for a while about politics , religion , literature , and political economy—glad enough of the excuse to be idle for a week or twoyet at last begin to feel impatient , and desire again to see the Leader brighten up with something which can really interest people—viz ., the drama ( for who
cares about anything else ? Politics are very well to make a noise about—but the real topic in which the public is interested , believe me , is the topic I treatthe drama !) Imagine , then , that , comedian daily gazing at the bill , and daily seeing , " Every evening the new successful tragedy , in five acts , entitled , The Blood of Vengeance "—how he must feel the public tire of that bill , and feel that it desires something gay again , some of the " good old English comed y " which he can play with so much spirit ! That is what I feel when Social lieform , European Democracy , Taxation , and other hoavy matters till up tho columns which might be signed Vivian .
Liviinrool Statistics.—From A Return Pre...
LiviinrooL Statistics . —From a return presented to the Health Committee by Mr . Kishtoff , the building surveyor , it appears that the number of houses and warehouses erected , or in the course of erection , within the municipal borough of Liverpool , from tho let of January to the 3 lst of December , 1850 , were 420 ; comprising , under £ 12 , 41 ; from £ 12 to £ 25 , 297 ; from £ 25 to £ 35 , 41 . Of the 4 ' 20 ei ^ ht were warehouses . The following id a comparative statement of the number of houses erected in each year ninoe 1838 : —1838 , 102 / 5 ; 183 !) , 007 ; 1810 , 1 / 570 ; 1841 , 1761 ;¦ 1842 , 2027 ; 1843 , 13 !) 0 ; 1844 , 2460 ; 1845 , 3728 ; 1816 , 3160 ; 1847 , 1220 ; 1848 , 656 ; 1840 , 446 ; 1850 , 420 : total , 21 , 183 . Militia Foiuns ov the Unitiuj Status . —The
eni oiled militia of the United States reaches the number of two millions , a tolerably large army . Pennsylvania hat ) a greater number of enrolled militia than any other state , which shown that , an the above : number is , all those capable of bearing ; aririH are not returned by the different Htaten . The returns from official sources are an follows : —Maine , 44 , 060 ; New HumpHhire , 27 , 06 7 ; MttMSitehuaetts , 101 , 780 ; Vermont , 23 , 015 ; Rhode Maud . 13 , 658 ; Connecticut , 57 , 710 ; New York , 261 , 452 ; New Jersey , 39 , 170 ; 1 ' ennsylvuuia , 276 , 070 ; Delaware , 022 !) ; Maryland , 48 , 801 ; " g inia , 124 , 202 ; North Carolina , 70 , 448 ; JSouth Carolina , 56 , 200 ; Georgia , 57 , 312 ; Alabama , 44 , 331 ; Louisiana , 438 , 348 ; Mitt-Hinsippi , 45 , 335 ; TeiineHsee , 71 , 252 ; Kentucky . 88 62 !); Ohio , 17 ( 5 , 45 /}; Indiana , 53 , 018 ; Illinois , 120 , 210 ; Mis-Houri , 01 , 000 ; ArkwiHttB , 17 . 137 ; Miohifrau , 00 , 017 : Florida , 12 , 122 ; Tfixus , 10 , 776 ; Wisconsin , 32 / 203 ; District of Columbia , Vll \ ) . —Ncw York Tribune .
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And Its Official Acts.
AND ITS OFFICIAL ACTS .
This Page Is Accorded To An Authentic Ex...
This page is accorded to an authentic Exposition of the Opinions and Acts of the Democracy of Europe : as suck we do not impose any restraint on the utterance ot opinion , and , therefore , limit our own responsibility to the authenticity of the statement .
Development Of Polish Democracy. [We Res...
DEVELOPMENT OF POLISH DEMOCRACY . [ We resume our delineations of Polish Democracy , availing ourselves , as last week , of the aid of the same foreign pen . ] The organization of the Polish Democratic Society is very simple . The Society is divided into s ections , whose duty it is to be in continual intercourse with the centralization , and to follow its instructions . The centralization undergoes an annual election by the whole of the society . It alone initiates all acts of a political nature . The Central Committee is responsible for its past proceedings to the newly-elected members for each forthcoming year . The government , in fact , however , remains with little change in the same hands , for from 1836 to the present day , viz ., during a period of fourteen years , the elections have only sent altogether twenty members to the centralization . To meet the expenses of the cause every member of the society is bound to pay a progressive impost in proportion to his income . This impost constitutes the principal source of revenue , and the funds thus collected are devoted , not only to sending out numerous agents to Poland , not only to the costs of the written propaganda , but also to the education of pupils in the French military schools , viz ., at the Ecole d'Etat Major , in Paris , and at the Ecole d'Artillirie and du Ge * nie , in Metz . To what extent the principles of the Democratic Society made way in Poland is best demonstrated by the numerous democratic conspiracies which , being separately formed , and having afterwards ranged themselves under the leadership of the centralization , have been discovered in Poland under the sway of all the three spoliators—Prussia , Austria , and Muscovy .
The association spread by the Polish Democratic Society acquired such an extent that it became no longer possible to postpone the outbreak of an insurrection , for which the 21 st of February , 1846 , was fixed . How that insurrection failed we shall not here explain . Whether information from the aristocratic party ( as Count Montalembert then publicly confessed ) , or treason of one of the conspirators , denouncing the plan to the Prussian Government , was the cause of the failure , we shall not enter into;—suffice it to say , that all Poland became the scene of a human battue , carried out against the conspirators for her liberty , and the trials which were held , and the judgments which took place upon them , showed that there never was a conspiracy having more
extensive ramifications , or a more universal and national character . Austria , wishing to avoid the storm , incited the ignorant peasantry of Galicia , by the most infamous lies , against the patriots in the classes above them , and , under the protection of her troops , an enormous number of families of patriotic landowners were massacred in their own homes , regardless of sex or age . Muscovy filled her numerous prisons with victims , who breathed their last either on the gibbet or in the citadel of Warsaw , whilst others were transported to people the deserts of Siberia . Prussia incarcerated upwards of 600 individuals out of her Polish population , which does not quite amount to one million , and , moreover , brought nearly 200 of them for high treason before the bar of the Berlin tribunal .
Despite their immediate failure , the efforts of 1846 were not without some good results for Poland ; ( or , however short the duration of the Cracow insurrection , it nevertheless had just time enough to issue its manifesto , whose principles are those of the Polish Democratic Society , and which manifesto proclaimed the thoughts and principles of the future Polish Republic * The influence of the movement of 1846 on the emigration was beneficial . The ranks of the Democratic Society were greatly increased . All shades of Democratic opinion fused themselves into the body of the Democratic Society ; ami from that moment there remained but two parties—two camps in the bottom of the emigration : — Democracy and the Monarchical I ' arty , which latter party the year 1848 completely extinguished .
It ih not in our power , nor would it be discreet on our part , to enumerate all the international relations of tho Polish Democratic Society ; but if we were to believe all the reports « iven , and ull the accusations uttered by the reactionary press , the centrilizution of this society has had a hand in all tho European movements , and participated in all the events of the la « t three years . Thu » , the events of Berlin , Vienna , Dresden , Breslau , Baden , Sicily , Rome , and Hungary , were not , it would seem ,
without its active participation . Time alone can show the real extent of the cooperation of the Polish . Democracy in all those movements ; but whatever may be the opinion formed of what is already known concerning the part the Polish Democracy took in die great events commencing in 1848 , it can hardly be denied thut the men who were equal to such emergencies , and who exposed themselves to tho hatred of the reactionary Governments , were not altogether without merit . Indeed , the wholcuale persecutions which now en £ H {< e ; tho reactionary powers , Hufliciently nhow the amount of hatred which prompts them . Kveryivhero pursued and hunted , there in not . a corner on the whole Continent where the J ' olioh Democrats can take refuge . In 184 !) , the Government of the mook-Republic of France , expelled a great iiiitny inoinbern of the J ' olinh Democratic Society * Wo nill givo thut dooumout iu uiiotlior number .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 25, 1851, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_25011851/page/17/
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