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•;.'¦? Jan. 31, 1352.] €tlt ^Ltattt* 113
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#jmr Cmraril ^ ^^ .—
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~ [IN THIS DEPARTMENT, AS ALL OPINIONS, ...
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There is no learned man but will confess...
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EDUCATIONAL ENFRANCHISEMENT. December 24...
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LETTER FROM THE REVEREND JOHN JESSOPP. E...
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JUDGES OF THE COUNTY COURTS; " Habea auo...
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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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Fra Diavolo. At Last There Has Been Genu...
nart which just lies within her smiling , arch , and Selicate power , and she sang charmingly , Weiss , as the Alcalde , was wooden , but sang effectively . Harrison played a village lover * stupid as village lovers in comic operas usually are ; and he showed that he possessed the intelligence needed fox the Dart ! This unhappy tendr bawl g d his love songs as if they had been the " Bay o * Biscay / ' and talked of Axmnier and love ' s i-ron chain till I began to imagine him some distinguished foreigner *—a kind of Walworth Tamberjik ! The poor composer must not be credited with all the malicious laughter excited by his leading tenor . THE CONSPIRATOR IN SPITE OP HIMSELF ! I went on "Wednesday to the O l ympic s and saw there a languid drama , The . Conspirator in Spite of Himself , which is a feeble copy—oh ! how feeble ^ - of Secret Service , a piece in which Farren was so masterly that the author of the present drama , disregarding the ne quid nimis , thought we could bear to have it again in the mildest form of matured mediocrity . Hence this piece , wherein Farren plays an old writing master set to copy treasonable papers for Jacobite conspirators — wherein Compton , the funny footman ( such fun !) has to assume the part of a French Marquis , " and after saying oui , owe , talks English and takes snuffwherein William Farren plays a tender lover who is uncertain what to do with his legs—wherein Louisa Howard , without trouble , looks pretty , and does ' nt seem to know much about what she is saying-r-wherein—but no 1 I will not continue : Goethe said of the poets of his day , " they put too much water in their ink' *—the author of this drama has forgotten to put any ink in his water . C ' est frete ! ah ! queerest bite I Vivian .
•;.'¦? Jan. 31, 1352.] €Tlt ^Ltattt* 113
•; . '¦? Jan . , 1352 . ] € tlt ^ Ltattt * 113
#Jmr Cmraril ^ ^^ .—
# jmr Cmraril ^ ^^ . —
Pc02107
~ [In This Department, As All Opinions, ...
~ [ IN THIS DEPARTMENT , AS ALL OPINIONS , HOWEVER BXTEBME , ABE ALLOWED AN EXPRESSION , THE EDITOR NECESSARILY HOLDS HIMSELF RESPONSIBLE FOR NONE . ]
There Is No Learned Man But Will Confess...
There is no learned man but will confess he hath much profited by reading controversies , his senses awakened , and his judgment sharpened . If , then , it be profitable for him to read , why should it not , at least , be tolerable for his adversary to write . —Milton .
Educational Enfranchisement. December 24...
EDUCATIONAL ENFRANCHISEMENT . December 24 , 1851 . Sir , —I have long privately entertained an opinion that , instead of basing the Electoral Franchise upon property—the possession or occupation of lands and tenements , it might possibly be founded upon Personal Intelligence , —much , as I have fancied , to the improvement of the existing state of things . But , whenever I have suggested this to " practical" and knowing people , I have been uniformly told that , though the notion is very good , it is somehow utterly impracticable , and could not be carried out . I have , therefore , been content to indulge my crotchet secretly , and have not ventured until now to hint it to the public . I do not think I should have been em- boldened to do so , even yet , but for a notable revela- tion made by Mr . Cobden , at a public meeting lately held at Halifax . Your readers may remember that that distinguished gentleman—who is commonly considered to be eminently «• practical" in all he says and does—stated that ho had " heard Lord John Russell say something to the effect that on educa- tional test would not bo a . bad franchise to bo admit- ted into this country '; and I suppose we may coil- elude , from the , manner in which he mentioned it , that Mr . Cobdon himself perceives no particular folly in the notion . Now , if any one cares to know it , I do not generally pretend to think very highly of Lord John v e states- manship ; but I have a great respect for his under- standing and discernment ; and I am decidedly per- fluaded that his judgment , in a matter of this sort , is of no email authority . I hayo alno been reminded of the force of that saying which Emerson ascribes to the scholar of the age : —« ' Every solitary dream of nuno is xushing to fulfilment . That fancy I bad * wad hesitated to utter beoauso you would laugh , the
he hopes to earn his bread , —he is expected to come provided with testimonials in support of his qualifications , and it is presumed that these have been obtained from persons who can speak decisively of his fitness for the post in requisition . In some instances there are public boards of examination , on appearing before which , and submitting his pretensions to an established test , he may obtain a certificate of his eligibility for employment in the particular department of activity which he claims to enter . Now , I have fancied that some such boards of examiners
broker * the attorney , the market-man , are saying the same thing . Had I waited a day longer to speak , I had been too late . Behold , State-street thinks \ and Wall-street doubts , and begins to prophesy 1 " But , not to dally with preliminaries , I will state , as briefly as I can , in what way I conceive a system of Educational Enfranchisement might be actually esta ^ blished . - Every one knows that when a person applies for any given situation in society , —6 ay for the office of exciseman , national schoolmaster , parish clerk , relieving officer , or for any other function by which
might be instituted , in convenient places throughout the couutry , to try the qualifications of all who aspire to become electors . It is not for me to say precisely how they shall be constituted ; but I suppose they could be as readily devised and organized as were the existing courts for revising the registration and settling objections . A set of printed questions could be prepared , like any ordinary examination paper , and the knowledge of all forthcoming candidates for the franchise might thus be compe ndiously ascertained ; and the answers of such as proved satisfactory should entitle the answers to be placed on the voters'list . Persons might be eligible for the examination at the
age of twenty-one , or at any other age that should be determined on ; and , in cases of removal from one part of the country to another , a simple certificate from the board should be enough to entitle the removing person , to claim to be entered on the list of the neighbourhood in which he might go to settle . Some security would be needed against forgery ; but that , I presume , is a point which might readily be provided for . The printed questions * also , would require to be different every year , so that there should be no opportunity for the candidates to mislead the board by using answers that had formerly been given by other persons . Some regard ought
likewise to be paid to the moral character of the individual ; butj perhaps , it would be sufficient to take this generally for granted , unless some objector could come forward and definitively convict him of some legal crime , or 6 f any grievous irregularity of lifesuch as manifest injustice in his dealings , habitual drunkenness and disregard for decency , notoriety for lying , or the like ; and , in the absence of any such -well-defined and clearly proved objection , his eligibility as a voter shquld be held to be established , on the ground of his general and political intelligence alone , and should be thenceforth unimpeachable , save in cases wherein it might be ; subsequently invalidated by clear proof of the objections already indicated .
The specific constitution of these supposed boards of examination is not what we need be concerned with at the present time , since that would have to be settled by the Parliament , in accordance with the sense and wishes of the intelligent community . It is enough that the rough elementary idea is here set forth for consideration . Whatever modifications or limitations should be found needful , the same might be supplied by those whose supposed duty it is to govern us and legislate for our necessities as an organized society . t ot
: : The general constituency hus obtained might n be altogether so pure and perfect as one could wish such a suppoaable body of electors would not , perhaps , answer precisely to what one would call the ideal of an elective people ; yet any one may see that it would be immeasurably superior to what wo have at present ; and it should be remembered that , with a moderate approximation to the ideal , it becomes us to rest content . Push your actuality as closely as possible to your ideal ; but do not despair of it , or pour contempt upon it , if , by reason of the imperfection of human things , you cannot bring the two to
< ] , < i \ ] j \ i 1 i t coincide . s , It has not escaped me that the sort of suffrage here proposed would make sad havoc with tho existing constituencies in the kingdom . It would undoubtedly disfranchise a multitude of ten-pound , borough voters , forty-shilling freeholders , and farm tenantsat-wiU . But what of that ? It would , in return , give the franchise to a large number of people better qualified to use it ; and , as it would iorm an additional plea for National Education , it might gradually and ultimately lead to universal Suffrage . When all the people are actually intelligent , I suppose there could be no objection to universal suffrage . But there is manifestly no advantage in increasing voters , unless fhft ™ rsons admitted to tho franchise bo already quaot
1 j t c £ t 1 lified to understand tho character and tendency public questions , and to appreciate ability and integrity , or detect the lack of such , in the men who oome forward to represont them in the Legislature . Stupid , unintelligent people oannot by tho nature ot them elect anything , save some superlatiye stupidity . They notvuftlly w » d inevitably admire only tho colossal
likeness of themselves ; and him they -will accordingly aim to exalt to the pinnacle of affairs . In such an elective bewilderment as we have at present , there is evidently no hope . We require wise and able men to represent and rule us ; and , as Carlyle has again and again insisted , you cannot by any intricate process whatsoever distil a wisdom out of a preordained stupidity , however clamorously and trium p hantly elected . You might as soon expect to make pancakes out of Bath brick , or spin a waggon rope from apple parings . If ever we are to have a Parliament or Government consisting of the most honourable and gifted men of the country—in whom alone there is
any chance of guidance—it is plain we must first have a body of electors possessed of sense and intelligence and honesty enough to discern and honour gifts and worthiness , and resolutely determined to give their suffrages only to men in whom these lofty qualities are to be found . There seems to be no better plan devisable than that of making the suffrage dependent on intelligence . For even if conscientiousness does not always happen to go along with it , it is still clear and undeniable that true rational enlightenment is the beginning and forerunner of all just conduct ; and without it a man is likely to have little virtue that can really be relied on in regard to his public duties .
I could find a great deal more to say upon this subject , but I am afraid of making my letter too lengthy for your columns ; so , for the present , believe me , Yours faithfully , John Leaf .
Letter From The Reverend John Jessopp. E...
LETTER FROM THE REVEREND JOHN JESSOPP . East India United Service Club , January 22 , 1832 . Sib , — My attention has been called to your paper of January 3 , In which you pass some severe strictures on . my adaptation , of M . Monod ' s Sermons' on " Woman . " 1 have simply to aver , that I not only did r iot claim , but distinctly disclaimed , all pretence to originality ; and I have the gratification of finding this to be admitted by independent testimony ; for in a review of the book which appeared in the Evangelical Magazine of this month , the writer ( who is a stranger to me , thus concludes : —** ' We thank Mr . Jessopp for his handsome book , which though avowedly an amplification of a sermon by a Mate French Protestant Clergyman , ' whom he does not name , is not on that account less worthy of extensive circulation . " By avoiding idiomatic peculiarities of style—by omitting disquisitions upon national educational systems—by giving to the work a totally different form , by arranging it in chapters with appropriate headings and mottos , and by the introduction of additional matter in illustration of the subject—I at once divested it , as I believed , of whatever might detract from its interest to the ordinary English reader ; and at the same time established , as I thought , its claim to be what it simply professed to be , an amplification of a sermon by a late French Protestant Clergyman .
Ten or twelve months ago , I read in one of the English papers an announcement of the death of M . Monod , the author of Lucile , ou la Lecture de la Bible , and other works . I have not seen this subsequently contradicted , and my conviction was , and still is , that M . Monod is actually deceased . The ascription of the date of the sermons to 1849 instead of 1818 is at most a slovenly inaccuracy , if you will , but cannot be supposed by any reasonable man to have been a clumsy expedient adopted in the deliberate intention to mislead .
That I have incurred the contemptuous displeasure of Mr . Barret * , who , it appears , has lately published a translation of M . Monod ' s work , I perceive and regret ; but as it is my earnest wish , so far as the inharmonious combinations of this wrangling world will permit , to "live peaceably with all men , " I shall neither suffer Mr . Barrett to fasten a quarrel on me , nor retort upon him by insinuating uny unworthy motives for his virulent attuck . As I cannot say that I feel exceedingly humiliated—nor , indeed , particularly annoyed , by Mr . Barrett ' s procedure—I can , without any great exercise of Christian iorbeurance , ufford to take leave pf him and dismiss the subject , with the expression of a hope that , should he over give offence to a brother by even a seeming rivalry , he will meet with a more courteous adversary thun
ho has proved to me . I have the honour to be , with every sentiment of respect , sir , your obedient faithful servant , JouN Jjjssovv .
Judges Of The County Courts; " Habea Auo...
JUDGES OF THE COUNTY COURTS ; " Habea auotorem > quo facias hoc , TJnum ex judicibua eeleotis objioiebat . "—HonAOE . January 3 , 18 IW . Sin ,- ^ It is now eighteen hundred years since the above was written , and nor time nor circumstance ha « ever since changed our expectations of the judicial character . The witty author , whoso knowledge of nature was equal to our Shakespeare ' s , though Icbb magnificently bodied forth , held tho reputation of tho judge as sacred as , his countrymen onco did Ccoaar'a wife's ; and it is not a littlo remarkable that ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 31, 1852, page 21, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_31011852/page/21/
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