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Leader (1850-1860), 28th October 1854, Edition Country of 2, Page 13, [IX THIS DEPARTMENT, AS All, OPINIONS HO...

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      Nursery Republics. Wia Trust That Our Re...

      the United Kingdom , when England does not propose It , and it would not matter if she did . The true statement of the case is this—The island of Hayti is divided into two parts , the French and the Spanish . A part ; of French Hayti is under the dominion of his Majesty the Emperor Faustinus the First , once plain M . Soukruque . The farthermost part is inhabited by the descendants of the Spaniards yvho originally obtained possession of the island ,- —a very mixed racewho enjoy a

      re-, public independent of the French inhabitants , of the Emperor Faustinus , or diplomatic relations , we believe , -with any state in the world . At the extreme portion of this island is a convenient harbour for a coal-station , and this harbour the American Government holds on . a tenure very similar to that with which , for several years , it held the island of Minorca from the Spanish Government . That is the whole story .

      The San Domingo subject is quite distinct from the subject of the Mosquito embroglib —a very ridiculous affair , in which we regret to see the American Government persevering , eveii for purposes of form . "We trust that it is only form . " We have been assured that the war-ships sent out to Greytown are not intended to put any constraint upon the British , but only to salute the flag of the

      Nicaraguan Republic , as rightful sovereign of the Mosquito territory . On the subject of right , we do not differ from our American friends . The King of the mongrel Mosquito people has about as much " right" to the land he squats upon as a King of the Gipsies would have a right to any neglected corner of Romney Marsh on which he might happen to have settled . But no new definition of

      JNicaraguan rights over a preposterous swamp and the mongrel " humans" wretched enough to live there , could justify the American Government , in policy or in a wise regard for the interests of humanity at large , if it were to provoke a breach of peace with the English war-ships . It -would be to purchase at a shocking price a , pedantic correctness on a point that is no matter at all .

      In the San Domingo business the American Government appears to us likely to sustain some misconstruction , if not some inconvenience , for h aving neglected a manifest duty in time past . San Domingo is an independent republic de facto , by all the rights that constitute the republics of the United States themselves ; and in fidelity to her own claims , America was bound to recognise that Republic . The duty has been neglected , we fear , to this very day .

      . Let us , while we are on that subject , point out another duty neglected by the same Republic , Liberia has not yet been recognised . JDe facto , it is perceived , and it has been honoured with the solicitude of one of the greatest statesmen of the Union , Henry Clay . It offers , if it were encouraged to develop itself , a means- of escaping from the difficulties that beset America on the subject of slavery—difficulties that alao involve Great Britain . If the "White emigration to the "West wore to have a set-off in a "Black

      emigration to the East , and if the Negro race could , at whatever cost , be nursed and educated into something like self-government and independence on the African continent , one of the greatest problems of tho present age would be settled . A moo , humbler perchance than , our own , but endowed by God with the gifts of speech and thought , would bo placed upon a political equality with those fellow-creatures on this earth ; and the Anglo-Saxon Governments would be absolved from tho painful responsibilities which they have undertaken . One of the first stops to those results would bo the recognition of Liberia by the United States .

      October 28, 1854q The Leader. 1021

      October 28 , 1854 Q THE LEADER . 1021

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      [Ix This Department, As All, Opinions Ho...

      [ IX THIS DEPARTMENT , AS All , OPINIONS HOWEVER EXTRKMTC ip . £ EX £ k 5 KE ! rM 3 — -SSSSSSSSs ^ E

      Th.Ere 13 N.O Learned Iman But Will Conf...

      Th . ere 13 n . o learned Iman but will confess he hath rrrucH profited by reading controversies , his senses awakened , and his judgment sharpened . If , then , it least , be tolerable for his adversary to write . —Mix-ton

      Babel. (From A Various Correspondence.' ...

      BABEL . ( From a various Correspondence . ' ) — I was not aware until last Sunday that a burlesque on church service is being played weekly within the precincts of St . James ' s Palace , to which the public are admitted gratis , as the attendance appears to be of the scantiest- I am sure that the fact is unknown , and that I shall do good service by making the public aware of it through your columns .

      Having a German friend in London , lately arrived , I-was induced to accompany him to the Konigliche Deutsche Hofkapelle . We found a fine chapel , crimson and gold hangings , gilded carved work , lofty and well cushioned pews , and an agreeable temperature . The Hof . prediger mounted the rostrum , at a quarter to twelve , and commenced the performance . It might be quite as well confined to pantomime , as during the hour and a half that the service lasted I caught about

      twelve words ; evidently these were thrown out in moments of inattention to his part . My German friend likewise informed me "he had no word understood ! " There were six people in the church at the conaniencettjent , and about twelve at the end , and these appeared to be strangers . These sat in their separate pews during service and sermon , apparently much relieved when an occasional burst on the organ relieved the enigmatical mutterings of the pulpit .

      I have serious doubts whether this weekly " Divine Gpnaedy" played within the boundary o an English palace is likely to raise the English court or people iik the estimation of foreigners . I am sure you will agree with me , Mr . Leader , that if there are German individuals about court requiring a German church , service should be performed with due solemnity and decorum . Is the present incum"bent too old for the work ? Or if the vocal organs have become clogged and inarticulate with much fat , " solve senescentem pinguescentem" and let a worthy representative of Luther be appointed .

      — On Saturday Last Dr. Phillips Was Buri...

      — On Saturday last Dr . Phillips was buried at Sydenham church . The funeral was attended by about fifty personal friends , most of whom are well known in the world of journalism and . letters . Douglas J errold , J . Delane , Mowbray Morris , and John ftturray , may be named . After the ceremony , a meeting was held in the vestry to consider the best means of honouring his memory , and it was agreed that a public subscription should be opened among the personal friends of the deceased , to the extent of 100 / . ( no individual subscription exceeding a . guinea ) , for the purpose of erecting an ornamental medallion in Sydenham church . By far the greater part o the money was f orthcoming on the spot . A most noticeable fact is , that Dr . Phillips , though dying under 50 , and never having had any resources beyond his pen , has left ten thousand pounds for his widow and children .

      —¦ Will Sergeant Adams Take A Hint? Opnt...

      —¦ Will Sergeant Adams take a hint ? Opntempt of court ia punishable in a layman . Why not in a barrister ? Neither the public nor the respectable members of tho bar would quarrel with so just a retribution , and it would at any rate impart a spice of adventure into tho now stale sport of judge-baiting .

      — The Baby Show At Springfield, Ohio, 1m...

      — The Baby Show at Springfield , Ohio , 1 ms suddenly attained to the dignity of a respectable institution ; while those shrieking assemblages of Bony Priesteaaes , known by tho name of "Rights of Women Conventions , " have fallen almost beyond tho reach of a joke . The baby movement is preeminently unscctnrian and democratic , ns well as sanitary and national . In these almost edible lumps of pulpy and squeczabl p humanity , neither creed nor opinion permits exclusion ; thcBo tiny sinners have no acquired and artificial rights of clasB whereby to

      claim distinction : supposing thorn to have a aort of vested interest in Bin , they aro guiltless of all ologios and isms , and anterior to nil heresies and doxies . Like tho immortals , they all speak tho same language , extending from a wheezo to a squall , « nd aro not polyglot like completed men . Thuro may , perhaps , bo a certain materialist tendency in thus awarding prizes to little bodies whoso souls are " waiting to join "—there may , perhaps , be a certain levelling tendency in refusing to recognise tho aristocracy of gout in tho infantine constitution , but tho result , wo

      are persuaded , is beneficial to the nation and in harmony with the age . Moreover , it gives to the women of the State a certain hold on public life which the so-called Bights of Women could never give ; while it consecrates the motherly instincts and the womanly duties o the home * It opens a career for the fine jealousy of mothers , disabusing them at once of the flattery of friends who find every baby a " perfect love " a . nd " heavenly pet , " and avenging : the cruel inattention of fathers who are slow to perceive how the little darling " begins to take notice . " Yet if an exposition of babies , why not of fouryear-olds , of ten-year-olds , young ladies , and of young men ? A baby show is an admission of the importance of physical education ; and though it is good to begin at the beginning , it is not good to stop there .

      — "The Known Advantages Gained By The Ba...

      — " The known advantages gained by the Baltic fleet this year , " writes the Berlin correspondent of the Times , " were the attainment of a thorough knowledge of those waters , and a correct insight into the nature of the craft necessary for their navigation ; a just appreciation of the enemy ' s talents in fighting shy , and the proof that Russian granite is susceptible to pressure from without . The unknown , advantages may , perhaps , be summed up in . the injury done to the Russian finances by the blockades . " Is it possible to sum up with a more merciless naivete the operations of a campaign ? " A thorough knowledge of those waters . " One might suppose that the Baltic was as unknown to our pilots as the

      coasts of Britain to the earliest PhcBmciantraders . ' * A correct insight into the nature of the craft" is , ifc seems , obtained by sending the heaviest and deepest ships afloat into the shallowest seas , and when the season is more than half over , building and fitting out a batch of long-legged yachts , drawing half as much water as the line-of-battle ships , rolling their masts away , and unable to fire their guns , which , even in fine weather , carry wild , or burst . " A just appreciation of the enemy ' s talents in fighting shy , " & c , is obtained by playing long balls at

      forts , and exercising great guns off"the enemy ' s towns . The unknown advantages , on the principle of omen ignotum pro magnifico , might be supposed , to . be immense : they are limited , we are informed , to the injury done to the Russian finances by the blockade , which has enabled Russia to continue flourishingly her exports of hemp , tallow , and timber , and to import lead . In a word , the advantage of this wonderful campaign is that by ignorance in design and inefficiency in execution , we have found out what admirals and what ships ought not to be employed next year .

      — The Lord-Lieutenant Of Herefordshire, ...

      — The Lord-Lieutenant of Herefordshire , brought to book at an agricultural dinner "by the tenantfarmers he had deceived and oppressed , tries to laugh it off with a sneer , but reduced to a sense of hifl impropriety by tho sturdy indignation of the guests , stutters out an equivocal apology , and at last , after a succession of broadsides from the Parson , fairly cries like a naughty boy . Here is a lesson for our Irish friends : let them create a force of opinion Like that which pinned this blubbering nobleman to the selletle , and the cause of Tenant-right will be won . — According to M . le Comto de Ficquelmont , the chief injury we have inflicted on the Bussian navy in the Baltic this year , is that we have deprived them o their customary six weeks o sea-bathing , ¦ whi ch is found necessary to refresh the timbers of tho shins debilitated by the fresh water of tho JNeva .

      — " Charley" Has Never Shown, At Tho Bes...

      — " Charley" has never shown , at tho best of times , more than good seamanship and consummate gallantry . Seamanship is mostly necessary in the Captam-r-not so much in the Admiral . Charley never showed himself a naval strategist , oitlter in Syria or in tho Portuguese service . Hi 3 utter losa of nerve is easily explained . Chads was a very gallant officer , and no doubt is a very able artilleristbut he is , unquestionably , too old for active command at sea . Depend on it the opinioa which formed for himself from personal service under Nelson , Duncan , Bridport , Keith , Collingwoud , Sir Alexander Hood and Sir John Warren , at sea during war , was a sound one . u An Admiral to command a fleet in war

      should be from 45 years to r > 5 years old . A » o "" t date was the ono he used to mention when ho spoko of the tinio of life . Does not uav / il history conilrm this ? Exceptions thero are , no doubt , whora older men have done right well ; but is not tlim the rule ? used to point to tho 1 st of Juno «» tho confirmation of his unyinff . Ho was intimnto with many able officers who fturved in that groat victory : and he said ho had no doubt whutovcr that splendid no llowo ' s victory was , it would have l ) ccn moro complete if exhaustion of body had not overcome the nno old man ufter the notion w « s over . Anothox dictum of will porhapa prove true— ' * Deunt J ) undan in no sailor . " En revanche , ho is nn admirable Chairman of a Board , and an unexceptionaWk Whig .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 28, 1854, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_28101854/page/13/