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<!!>jmt Cmittril.
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[IN THIS DEPARTMENT, AS ALL OVINIONS , n...
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There is no learned man but will confess...
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THE EECENT CO-OPERATIVE CONFERENCE (To t...
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T II K T K M P Kit ANC K C A I! S E. (To...
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TO CONTINENTAL LEADERS. Sib,—In my forme...
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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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Ar01609
≪!!≫Jmt Cmittril.
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[In This Department, As All Ovinions , N...
[ IN THIS _DEPARTMENT , AS ALL OVINIONS , _nOTVIVM EXTEEME A 1 U 3 ALLOWED A _3 _T EXPRESSION , TUli EDITOR NECESSARILY noians iiiiisele _responsible foe none . J
There Is No Learned Man But Will Confess...
There is no learned man but will confess he hath , much profited by reading' controversies , Ins senses awakened _, and _nis / _judgment sharpened . If , then , it be profitable for him to read , why should it not , at least , be tolerable for his adversary tea write . —Milton .
The Eecent Co-Operative Conference (To T...
THE EECENT CO-OPERATIVE CONFERENCE ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) Sir , —My former communication , concerning thc recent Co-operative Conference was solely occasioned by your having spoken of thai , body , as it appeared to me , in terms of unjust disparagement , tending to fix upon it a character which I felt it did not deserve . The letter of Mr . Vansittart Nealc , published in your last No ., contains a sufficient explanation as to the constitution and character of the conference , and the reasons why so large a proportion of the co-operative societies there represented , were those connected with the Society for Promoting Working-Men's Associations , by whom the
conference was convoked , —a circumstance which may have suggested to you the idea of its being a " sectarian and exclusive" body . Permit me to add , as an additional reason to those advanced in explanation by Mr . Neale , that those societies being chiefly in London , had much greater facilities for sending delegates than societies in Lancashire and Yorkshire , where such bodies are most numerous . Several of the principal associations in the north of England , and even in Scotland , however , were represented by delegates at that conference , and many others expressed by letter their sympathy with its objects .
The only fact referred to in your explanation in support of the alleged " sectarian and exclusive character of the conference , " is that of an intentional discourtesy having been put upon The . Leader , in its not having received a speeial invitation to attend the proceedings of the conference , a discourtesy which you say " was not put upon some of our contemporaries , who have laboured less than ourselves in the same cause , " _(/" . e ., co-operation . ) I trust if will not be considered a discourtesy when I say that this appears to me a very slight foundation upon which to build so grave au accusation against a public body as that of sectarianism
and cxelusiveness . It , however , rests upon a mistake . Tiio _tiicts arc those ,- —a note was sent to The Leader , and other journals known or presumed to be favourable to co-operation , requesting t hat publicity should be given iu their columns to the forthcoming conference ; no special invitation to attend its proceedings was sent to any journal . Two reporters for the press , however , presented themselves , and those gentlemen can bear witness that every oourlesy was shown to them , and every facility a Horded ( as if would bave been to a reporter
from Flic Leattcr , or any other paper ) to make their reports as full and accurate as possible . A report of the conference as contained in the Morning Advertiser was subsequently Kent by me to the Leattcr and other weekly journals . lOxtro . inely regretting that any misunderstanding upon this subject should have arisen , and fully acknowledging the services rendered by the Leader to thc cause of co-operation , — 1 am , Sir , your obedient servant , _TlfOMAH _KiroiiTKii , Hceroturv to the Conference-
T Ii K T K M P Kit Anc K C A I! S E. (To...
T II K T K M P Kit ANC K C A I ! S E . ( To the . Editor of the _leader . ) Silt , — 1 am glad that " Ion" has informed your readers that Temperance hotels are not licensed to sell intoxicating drinks . Those who want to buy must go to those who sell ; and no teetotaler is to be blamed for not selling alcohol , any more than a baker for not selling beef . Fortunately for those who arc strong enough to be angry , but not strong enough to do without wine , there arc scores of houses iu every town with the tempting notice , " _Licensed to bo drunk on thc premises , " where thoy can drink to their heart ' s content . Wo teetotalers are foolish enough to prefer sleep to stimulants when we are tired with lecturing .
T Ii K T K M P Kit Anc K C A I! S E. (To...
I very much regret , along with " Ion , " the bigotry of many teetotalers . But I still more regret the conduct of those who have given occasion to it . When Christians and ministers not only do nothing to prevent drunkenness , but hinder those who are doing all they can , and often tempt on the unwary to destruction , it is uo wonder that those who owe their all to the practice of teetotalism should not be able to appreciate the self-sacrificing love of such men as " Ion . "
Your correspondent complains of the * , ' innumerable teetotal orators and tract distributors , " who are not hospitable enough to give their friends the particular drinks they want . We do not profess to keep a druggist ' s shop ; and friends must bring their own medicines with them . Moreover , they should take them privately , and not force us to see them taking doctor ' s stuff at the dinner table . Arsenic and prussic acid are very valuable medicines ; so are castor oil and senna ; but I suppose that even " Ion" does not provide those for his friends at meal times . There are plenty of druggist's shops in every town ; and will be , along with workhouses and gaols , so long as intoxicating liquors are used as at present .
Bishop Hall ' s " silken string" is not much talked of by Christ and his apostles . The advocates of drinking are not , perhaps , aware that the word moderation occurs only once in the Testament ; and there it ought to have been translated gentleness or patience , as in other places where the same Greek word is used . St . Paul taught that we ought to give up eating flesh or drinking wine , if they led our brethren to transgress ; and our Lord taught that it was better to be drowned than to " offend one of these little ones . "
If " Ion" had ten sons and brought them up to moderate drinking , and one of them afterwards gradually became a drunkard ; and if he had known that by bringing them all up without stimulants he might have saved that one from his awful fate , I doubt not but that even he would have been a strenuous advocate of teetotalism in his own family . We teetotalers wish to feel for all tempted persons , as for our own children ; and we practise that which we advise , and which is , at any rate , the safest course . A word to teetotalers . You see from " Ion ' s" letter
how much you set the " respectable" _di-inkers against us by bigoted language . Now do not hide one atom of the true light , hut speak the truth with gentleness . We are not such very perfect people that we can throw many stones safely . Perhaps the best way in which we can learn Christian moderation is by considering wherein we offend . As our minds are not clouded by drink , and ought not to be by smoke , we should be able to see our faults rather more clearly than others ; and having given up one bad habit we ought to be strengthened to give up thc rest . How can smoking , and cheating , and unchaste teetotalers , venture to denounce moderate drinkers ?
Again , do not give up teetotalism because your ministers do . " Ion" greatly lauds ( Jeorge Dawson because he has taken to drinking , for no better reason than that he wished to " give the other thing a turn . " We have more sacred reasons for keeping our pledge . The welfare of millions , under Cod , _dcjiends upon it . I believe that more ministers break their pledges than reformed drunkards . They are under peculiar temptations . Somo are self-seekers ; and when they think
they can gam by leaving us they do so . Others ure led by their people ; and congregations of "Ion ' s" cordially dislike teetotal parsons . Others arc led by their doctors ; and rest moro on the spirit of wine than the spirit , of ( Jod for . strength . Others think it a low and unchristian motive to be bound by a promise . Others aro really sincere in thinking teetotalism injurious ; especially w hen their teetotal friends run down religion , and profess to cure all the evils under the sun by teetotalism .
If you or " Ion" wish to hear any more from me on teetotalism , I will take my stand on this one precept which our Divine Redeemer uttered— " If any man will come after me , let him deny himself , and take up his cross , and follow me . " Yours respectfully , I ' mnar I ' . _Cari'entick . _Warrington , Aug . 22 n < l , l _. _SW . TIIK TIJRIWLKNT _CLIQUE AT THE IMJHLIN
_MECHANICS' INSTITUTION . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) H 7 _, Cupel-street , l . uhlin , loth _August , 1852 . Sin ., —In your reply to a communication mado by mc to you last week , you accuse mo of intolerance / and with the . view you took of my letter you would be quite right . 1 there wished the exclusion or expulsion , from the Dublin Mechanics' Institute , of "an intolerant clique , " but not because they wished the expulsion of the Leader , and opposed tho engagement of Mr . ( Jeorge Dawson as lecturer , nor for any other expression of re-
T Ii K T K M P Kit Anc K C A I! S E. (To...
ligious or political feeling ; but on account of th annoyance some twenty of them have given h wanton acts that interrupt the proceedings of ti Institute , such as entering the reading-room walk ' up and down its whole lettgth like policemen , ' and - _^ vying on conversation loudl y , slandering the _individual who opposed them , within theii . hearing , makin " faces" at them , using aggravating expressions calcrf lated to provoke a breach of the peace . Und
these circumstances , no one bould read in the readin room , nor even enter it , without being insulted . Thf " conduct was not pursued merel y on the nights of bringing forward motions , but for the whole year round The same sort of conduct is resorted to at the general meetings of the Institute , and captious opposition given to our " motions , " such as rising up to oppose them for the sake of merely delaying their being put from the chair .
Such is the conduct for which I would wish the twenty members who are guilty of it to be expelled and not for holding or expressing any opinions , however extreme . I would not wish , nor alloiv , any limitation to bo made in point of eligibility of membershi p that would exclude Roman Catholics , as Catholics , but such limitation as would exclude men for such conduct as I have here detailed , no matter by whomsoever perpetrated . If you require further evidence than mine on this
matter , I refer you to last Saturday ' s Nation , where there are four articles on the subject—one from the directors of the Institute ; one from James Haughton , its wealthy and talented treasurer ; one from Mr . C . _Fetris _; and one from Charles Gavan Duff y , proprietor of the Nation , which is a professedly Roman Catholic paper , in which even he calls them a captious clique , and refuses to receive any further correspondence from them , except signed by their names in full . I would not , Sir , thus trespass upon yourtime , but that I was chagrined by your mistaking my view oftoleration , which , in religion and politics , is as free as yottr own , and which makes me a constant reader of the Leader
as being the only paper in the British empire that has thoroughly liberal opinions , and properly supports that progress which is the only means _of-reaching the highest degree of human happiness upon earth . Most respectfully yours , James Dey .
To Continental Leaders. Sib,—In My Forme...
TO CONTINENTAL LEADERS . Sib , —In my former letter , I had intended to notice slightly only the ideas it contained , so that others might work them out , if their object seemed to them attainable ; but at present I will , if you will allow me , endeavour to explain more at length the views which I entertain . As regards the best method of influencing the public mind in England , so as to induce it to feel from conviction more interest than it now does in the affairs of other countries , it would seem that this is better done in detail , or by individual instances , than by general assertions or facts , which are not so easily comprehended or supported . If one point , then , is kept steadily beforo the
attention of the . public in this country , and that one so cosily appreciated as the justice or injustice of the tribunals in others , the impression will bo at once felt , and will bo continually increasing . The governments of the continent too , if they will not allow that a nation has tho right to govern itself , will hardly deny that it has a right to be governed well ; if it « " » 1 ) 0 proved , therefore , that they lend themselves continually to judicial oppression , that slig ht oMmces am punished with the severity of great ones , that long imprisonments often take place before sentence is passed , that persons obnoxious only to the government miHrr as if they were convicted criminals , and that politically law is but an instrument for thc interest or vengeiUKM
of a party—if this can he proved , not only hy occasional allusions , but in an enlarged and persevering manner , and ono which will leave no doubt , it may >' come worth the while of governments so _exposix mitigate somewhat for their own sakes the _despotic which they now exercise . j Let the leaders also of continental reform _™*? ' _,,, their mission to consolidate necessary instilu whilst they are endeavouring to do away with ll ,, llh _(^ and if a government which exists by force has to >»* _^ moved by force , there will be less danger in their nui _^ of those violent convulsions and of that breac i law Which tho pent up _ieoliugs of an "U" _^ _, " |} , _^ sometimes commit when it limls itself stronger
oppressors . _. r Let them also in those countries where the w , 1 _^| m nobility in the government has degraded the p « _j <> l » _^^ lowered the standard of public opinion ami ol P . _^ morals , let them endeavour to inculcate , m . ) ' _^ matters at least , the valuo of truth , and what mig ' be the impartiality of law , and they will bo " , 0 rH benefactors of their country . —1 remain , P" _^ _^ respectfully ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 28, 1852, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_28081852/page/16/
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