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¦»•. 888,3*^ 28,1867.] «H* LEADER. 711
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AN ADVENTUJIE IN THE PROVINCES. There is...
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ANOTHER RIGHT ROYAL BRITISH BANK. A. hil...
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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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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
The Mystery Of The Paris Plot. The Tone ...
object of the Trench Government—and m this it seems to be supported by Austria and Bussia—is once more to disturb the Trench and Italian refugees in their home . They cannot live in peace because M . Ledbu EoiiilN—who has evidently no more to do with any project for assassinating the Emperor of the Trench than Iiord Pat . mebston —can smote his cigar in London streets .
"Whatever may come of this disgraceful attempt to get up an excitement against innocent and honourable men , ve trust it will be remembered that the English and French Governments , by the tone of their quarrel with Naples , and the English press , by its persevering encouragement of the spirit of disaffection in Italy , its savage attacks on Bomba , are alone responsible for recent events . E \ r er since the beginning of the world , to describe a king as a tyrant , to represent him as guilty of the most cold-blooded tyranny , of torture , exaction , and perjury , has been called incitement to insurrection ; and for the
demagogues , who have played this game , to turn round on those who rise and seek to land them over to the executioners has been called cowardice . "We have recently read much ludicrous abuse of M . DMazzixi , because when his-attempt failed he . contrived to escape . Do not these writers reflect that for tvro years , from a much safer position than that of the Italian revolutionist , they have been , doing all in their power , if not to sharpen the dagger which no one meant to use , at any rate to load the . musket which has this time missed fire ? :
¦»•. 888,3*^ 28,1867.] «H* Leader. 711
¦»• . 888 , 3 *^ 28 , 1867 . ] « H * LEADER . 711
An Adventujie In The Provinces. There Is...
AN ADVENTUJIE IN THE PROVINCES . There is a vast palace not far from the river Thames , and in this there formerly ruledand may rule still—a sovereign at once wealthy " powerful . The exterior of the edifice is gloomy and unadorned , but the interior ,, occupied \> y suites of chambers and a vast central hall , glitters with gilding and silk . The monarch , to whom rumour imputes some familiarity with the black art , is master of many thrones , but chooses not to sit upon them himself . His ministers possess each twelve various robes—the
costumes of as many ages and nations—and wear divers ornaments and crowns . In his Treasury is the dagger of Biturus , with the wand of Ariel , the shroud of Hamlet ' s father , and millions of Columbine spangles . Sometimes the king reigns as a Pharaoh , then ns a Prince of Beauty , to whom a hundred damsels offer garlands of flowers ; next he is H tamer of horses , and now ho engages a giant-killer to amuse his subjects . "Well , this potentate—so mighty that every seven
days two heralds scattered Ins renown on broad-sheets—was not satisfied with ruling the realm of Drury , but espied far beyond its borders three kingdoms—Bedford , Bodmin , and Bridport . " One of thoso shall be mine , " ho sworo right royally . This hearing , the Cavalier Ebwardes , from the land of Peckhatn , came and threw himself at the feet of the Drury Pharaoh , and offered , if provided with a handful of yellow tokens , to conquer the Bedford nation . " Two rivals contest tho crown , " ho said ,
' and my gracious lord shall prevail over both . " At these mellifluous words tho monarch was well pleased , and saw tho cavalier oo , co and again , to prepare lain for the valorous adventure . Tirst , a gorgeous pageant was made ready—banners of rainbowcolourod paper— " Welcomo to tho King ol Dmry !"— " Down with tho Pool "— " The Cat will bo let out of tho Bag . " A faithful servant desired to inarch upon Bud ford at the head of a corypluouu phalanx of
Amazonian graces in pink or pearly Areophane ; but this was forbidden , as they , lightly and briefly robed , might have trembled in the tempestuous cold of that country . But three Pindars went before the chariot of the King ; them following , rode three Orators , one heavily equipped , upon the back of a Green Dragon ; at the gate of the besieged palace stood a ( chamber ) -maid in the attire her the
of Arcady , and addressing , spoke Peckham cavalier , " Say , who in this city is greatest ? " Him answering , " Mantei ,, " said , and gazed in awe upon the lengthening cavalcade—the . Drury King , in . his highseated , gold-embossed chariot , the Orators , the Poets , the blue-and-orange banners of paper , the blazing records of virtue , soupgiving , and valour , the mystic oracle " Cat out of the Bajr "—when suddenly the
enchanted chimera vanished , and lo ! six stout gentlemen stood upon the scene ; there was no Green Dragon ( only the odour of it ) ; the Peckham knight became a clown ; the standards were changed into placards , and clung to the walls , and a red-lipped chambermaid , with a curtsey , said , " Please , sir , Mr . Mantex is the most intelligent and influential man in the Radical interest . " Armed with this authority , Edwardes , of Peckham , summoned meetings in support of the candidate for him
from Drury , wrote an address , paid the beadles for a peal of bells , smoked , drank lemonade , and is said to have idled . ; yet evidently he did his worst to make a farce of the Bedford election , for his employer obtained nearly two hundred covenanted or uricovenanted suffrages . Some of the necessary work was done by a deputation , and in the deputation figured Henry Shelton , independent elector . This gentleman was petted at Drury , ' had champagne , saw the performances , and looked at the dancers behind the curtain . '
The whole affair resolved itself into ' capital fun . ' There is corruption in the Government ; there is corruption in Parliament ; but the electoral system is more corrupt than any . The avenues of the House are infested by jobbers , jugglers , pettifogging agents , and miserable local ' leading men , ' who will accept as their candidate the first man who offers to spend his money freely . When the small boroughs nre not under ducal influences , they become the property of little cliques , ignorant or venal , and any Peckham
Edwardes can get up a requisition for a public meeting and a vote of adoption . In this way the scourings of illiterate vanity , popularised by the rant of tap-rooin orators , are sliot into the House of Commons . The large boroughs are bad enough , with their hundreds of public-houses opened in the interest of an opulent ignoramus ; but these boroughs aro the curse of the country ; without sinking them , and destroying , by means of the Ballot , the influence of purchased Peckham agency , no measure of parliamentary reform can be effectual .
Another Right Royal British Bank. A. Hil...
ANOTHER RIGHT ROYAL BRITISH BANK . A . hill is passing through Parliament to make provision for tho defalcation which Kkdpath effected in the capital of the Great Northern Hail way Company . The House of Commons and tho House of Lords are at issue upon one provision : the Lords are for laying tho burden equally over all shareholders , ' preference' * original ; ' tho Commons aro for preserving the exemption of tho preference shareholders , on the ground that tho Act guarantees to thorn thpir 4 % jyev confc ., nnd tlmb tho two Houses of Parliament should not interfere with tho ordinary courso of ln \ v . It Booms to be forgotten that the ordinary course of law has nob sufficed ,
since it has teen necessary to appeal to the two Houses of Parliament . The reason why the ordinary course of law fails is , that shareholders and directors have been so negligent through a series of years as to create a constant opportunity for TJedpath , and the preference shareholders ) who exercise a very influential vote in the company , have used their full array of power in continuing that opportunity . The defalcation is a monstrous charge upon the company , and should
rightly be provided by an exceptional course . The public is anxiously awaiting a prosecution of the directors of the Royal British Bank , on some of whom the public has already passed , its judgment , while for others the same public will most assuredly hope a verdict of acquittal . It has recently been reported that Paui ,, Strahak , Rejdpath , Eojbto be
son , Agar , and Saward , are about conveyed to Western Australia as to a penal settlement , under the provisions of the Penal Servitude Act . By the magnanimity of Lord Palmerstoust , the Fraudulent Trustees Bill has gradually been making its way through , the second House of Parliament . We have quite a formidable array , therefore , of penal examples and penal terrors .
In the midst of this expectancy , the CLinies somewhat suddenly denounces certain directors of another bank , as deserving all the severity that could be inflicted on the directors of the Eoyal British Bank . The firm in question is ' the London and Eastern Banking Company , ' which had the misfortune to smash in March last . The circumstances were no doubt peculiar . The
paidup capital of the bank was 250 , 000 ? . There was a branch in this country , with branches in India . The Indian part of the business appears to have been managed regularly enough ; but serious losses were thrown upon it by the exchange operation of the directors in London to supply themselves with funds , and the funds in London had been used in an unlicensed manner : more than
the paid-up capital had been advanced by way of loan to Colonel Waugh and other members of the Board of Directors , including Mr . Stephens , the Managing Director . No doubt there are some circumstances in this case which greatly resemble those of the Royal British Bank ; but all the facts are not before us ; and we can at least see startling differences .
The shareholders have agreed to the private composition ; and with the experience of the Royal British Bank before them , probably they are right . The monstrosity of that case did not consist in the diversion of capital , but in the extravagant professions of piety , in the conspiracies of the directors to keep up an appearance of solvency when they had no means , in the endeavour to entrap share purchasers and depositors when the ventbut fiction
bank was not simply insol , a . The London and Eastern Banking Corporation did have a paid-up capitalof 250 , 000 ? . ; the smaller ' paid-up' of the British Bank was in part a fiction . Tho managers of the Eoyal British Bank were persons acquainted with banking affairs ; Colonel Waugh was known to have been an Indian cavalry officer , and tho managing director a surgeon in the Indian army . It is true that Colonel Wauoii took Campden House at FfftnHmfrfcnn and struck out in splendid
style ; that ho had a romantic and picturesque country residence on Bronksea Island , iu Poole Harbour ; true that poor shareholders and depositors were really paying for the sumptuous entortaimenta , tho splendid concerto , and tasteful luxuries both at Kensington aud Branksea . JJut w 6 Imve no evidence that Colonel W auqh invoked Divino blessing ou n bubble-
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 25, 1857, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_25071857/page/15/
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