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need not be afraid , as the gun is a silent one and will make no re-, port . Take sure aim , then it will be all right if you do it clean , and we will think of you . Thorn and me saw the swells at the Keform Club ; we went in disguise as two friends , and we had a long talk about Billy Birch , who is to write this . We shall say no more at present , as we will see you tomorrow . " We remain your copartners , " Thorn . Spenceh . Duckwohth . " James took this letter to a policeman , saying he had found it lying on the pavement . It appeared that the names in the letter were those of three paupers in Chelsea workhouse , with whom the prisoner was acquainted when an inmate of that place . From that and other circumstances , it was concluded that he was the writer of the letter , and he was remanded till next Thursday .
A man named Stephens was apprehended at Birmingham , on Monday , with forged Austrian notes to the amount of £ 15 , 000 in his possession . He is a native of England , but resides in Vienna . Four suits have been instituted in the Ecclesiastical Court , at York , against the Reverend T . Ibbotson , vicar of Garton , and perpetual curate of Ruston Parva , Skerne , and Lowthorpe , for non-residence -without licence . It appeared that the reverend defendantJa . ad on a former occasion been condemned in the forfeiture of three-fourths of his revenue for the year 1847 and the costs of the suit . The four suits before the court on Friday were commenced for a like forfeiture for 1848 . The defendant admitted the truth of the charge , and judgment passed against him for three-fourths of his income for that year and costs . The four livings are returned at £ 311 .
A man named Richard Whiting was brought before the bench of magistrates at Towcester , on Friday , charged with attempting to murder his wife by cutting her throat in the public highway . On Wednesday last the prisoner went to London , and returned home next day . He then asked his wife to take a walk with him , and after being out some time , he said he felt rather fatigued , and wanted his wife to sit down . He then took a knife out of his pocket , and laying hold of her head , pulled it back , and inflicted a wound on her throat . ^ She screamed for assistance , and on the prisoner seeing a man approaching , he threw the knife over a hedge . He was iully committed for trial . There are so few ablebodied women in the Leicester Union-house that the guardians are obliged to pay for the washing being done . .
...... _ ,. A person with the antique name of Aristides Ollivier , son of the no less antique citizen Demosthenes Ollivier , member of the Constituent Assembly , was arrested at Batignolles , the residence of his father , the other day , on a charge of being connected with the Socialist society whose mysteries have been lately disclosed to the profane eyes of the public .
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An important county demonstration on the tenantright question took place on Monday at Enniskillen , where the people of the county of Fermanagh mustered in great numbers to give expression to their opinions on the rights and interests of the tenantry . These vast popular assemblages about the country help to usher in , with circumstances of no slight weight , the tenant-right conference , which commences its proceedings next week in Dublin . Mr . Higgins has been returned for Mayo by a majority of 46 over Mr . Butt . The polling booth opened on Monday morning , but up to two o ' clock not a ^ single voter presented himself at either side , the constituency being quite exhausted , although but 232 electors had registered their votes . At six o ' clock the election finally closed , when the high sheriff , Mr . Mahon , declared Mr . Ouseley Higgins duly returned .
The assizes for the North Riding of Tipperary occupied lesa than three whole days—a circumstance altogether without precedent in the annals of that division of the county . There was but one trial for murder , and the result was an acquittal . A respectable farmer , named Michael Walsh , was convicted on Thursday , at the Kilkenny Assizes , of the murder of a bailiff , named Simon Power , who had been placed in charge of his property under a distraint for rent , by wilfully administering to him corrosive sublimate in whisky , which , he gave him as a friendly treat to drink in his own house .
An unnatural murder was perpetrated at Ennis last week . The victim—a young woman named Mary Drony —aged 21 years ; the guilty party her own mother . The accused confessed the fact . She says she detected her daughter stealing potatoes ; that she beat her with a heavy stick about the head , from the effects of which she died in five or six days afterwards . The reasons assigned by the wretched culpiit for this murder arc doubted .
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THE TESTIMONIAL TO SIR ROBERT PEEL . To tho Editor of the Leader . G , Uryanston-squarc , August 1 , 18 . > fJ . Silt , —I beg to draw your attention to an advertisement sent for insertion in your coming number , announcing a public meeting at the Whittington Club on Wednesday next , to make the requisite arrangements for promoting the subscriptions of the working classes
for raising a testimonial to the late Sir Robert Peel . I trust that you will give the object of this meeting such Rupport in your own way as you think it deserves , and thus aid in founding a memorial to the statesman who secured fur the working classes of this empire the blessings of untaxed food . I remain , your obedient servant , JOSKI'K IIlTMK .
[ We nnrd not say how heartily we concur in th object of Mr . Hume ' s letter , and how willing we nljull bo to lend our aid in promoting the object for which the meeting has been convened . ]
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WILL IT END IN MONOTONY ? Inexhaustible in invention and futility is one class of objectors to wide schemes of association . The argument we combatted last week—the argument that monotony must succeed when the animal wants of the populace are supplied , is operative on numbers who speculate on the ultimate issues of great questions . It is passing strange that men should dread monotony when society is set free from the debasing and stultifying battle for bread .
One accustomed to the life of factories , who at any time has had admission to a conversazione or * ' party , " such as are common among the refined portion of the middle classes of the metropolis , must havebeen struck with the most agreeable astonishment at the gentleness of manner and the firmness of speech displayed by educated peop le : conversation so various and full of vivacity , tone so diversified , thought so new , etiquette so free , men so manly , women so womanly ,
that age looks young and ugliness beautiful—where all were intelligent and equal : it seems a new atmosphere and a new world . Among the aristocracy the charm of society is said to be greater . In these cases—all are above want , all are intelligent , all are equal—business is put aside , the merchant forgets his ledger , the speculator his stockbroker , no hot breath of competition poisons the air : yet who will say that there is monotony , or sameness , or dulness there ?
No , no , good theorist of dulness , monotony is the insipid offspring of ignorance and toil . The man whose mind is a blank has no variety , can have no variety . The man whose every energy is exhausted with labour has no vivacity , can have no vivacity . In competition , vaunted for its development ( we are not told of what passions , how few and how bad ) , growth is stunted , and expansion of nature in any wise direction is absolutely impossible . Genius is not tiresome ; the poet and the scholar make matchless company , and the variety of life is untold ( is incapable of being foretold ) which must ensue when the infinite capacity of man is set free by universal leisure , and developed by universal cultivation .
As strength does not consist in spasms , but in the stout bearing of burdens ; neither does the greatness of life consist in that galvanic power which is intermittent around us , but in the steady growth and quiet development of humanity . To leisure and cultivation we owe whatever charms and diversity life now has , and we may safely promote associative views without fear of bringing the reign of commonplace upon us . Out of the iron uniformity which present commercial arrangements force on whole bodies of men it is wonderful that distinct character springs up anywhere , and what may we not expect when the irrepressible elasticity of human nature has freer play . Ion .
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THE NECESSITY FOR A CHANGE OF SYSTEM . London , July 29 , 1850 . Sir , —The confused state of men ' s minds , the anarchy among ihe governing authorities , and the almost unbearable oppression suffered by the producing classes over the world , are evident signs that the time has arrived , in the due order of nature , for the system of falsehood in principle and evil in practice to be wisely and peaceably superseded by another , true in principle and beneficial in all its practices ; by a system always consistent with itself , and in accordance with all facts ; a system which , when effected , shall essentially benefit all , from the highest to the lowest ; while , during the transition , none shall be really injured .
This change must be commenced by the union of men who feel a deep and abiding interest in the well-being , well-doing , and happiness , of the human race , and who will persevere in their object until it shall be accomplished . The proposed " Collkgk of the Rational System of Societ y ; " will form this union ; and it will be the business of the members of this college to adopt measures to prepare society for this entire change in its principles and practices . Until now—although in opposition to all facts and to common sense—societv has been based and conto common sense—society Jia « been based ana
constructed on the belief of the imaginary notion of our early and inexperienced ancestors , that each one forms himself to bo what he is , and acts independently , through a supposed free will of his own creating ; and that ho ought to bo punished or rewarded for feeling , thinking , and acting according to some most ignorant imaginary local notions of right and wrong ; these notions differing more or less among all nations and people . This fundamental error is the origin of evil to man . It has produced a language of fioc will and falsehood over tho world , and a coronet of universal deception and mental cowardice .
It has dcranpod the human faculties so that not one could , by possibility , think or act right . From it have arisen all tho religions , Governments , laws , commerce , classifications of society , with their endless institutions and evil results .
It is this fundamental error which has produced the evil passions , misdirected the natural propensities , created innumerable diseases among the human race , and which , at this day , is the cause of all the vice , crime , and misery which pervade the populations of all countries . m . It makes man an inconsistent being , and impels him to act in opposition to his own happiness . It renders the language of truth impossible , although this language alone can produce knowledge , goodness , and happiness . Truth alone can give freedom to man . _ .
This fundamental error is the sole cause of the disunion of the human race , and of the anarchy and confusion of all Governments and people at this day . In short , it is the only cause of the present irrational , not to say insane , state of all the nations of the world . . . Insane , because all are acting in direct opposition to their own permanent well-being and happiness ; and yet the desire of all that has life is to attain happiness .
Such , in the simple language jof truth , without mystery , mixture of error , or fear of man , is the irrational state of society over the world . And such it must remain , except increasing in crime and misery as the extremes of wealth and poverty increase , as they must while this fundamental error continues . Robert Owen . [ We have a second letter from Mr . Owen in type , entitled " The Rational System Explained . " ]
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THE METROPOLITAN CARPENTERS . July 30 , 1850 . Sir , —Heading in your Leader an article relative to the condition of the metropolitan carpenters and joiners , I beg to send you my evidence , as you purpose to notice the subject again—believing the more extended the more beneficial will be the ^ enquiry . I have been a journeyman carpenter and joiner since the age of sixteen—not regularly apprenticed , but introduced into the trade by my father , who was well established as a journeyman . At that time I received
12 s . per week ; my wages gradually rose under various employers until the age of twenty-three , when I received the standard wages in the metropolis of 5 s . for a day of ten hours , and have continued to receive the same , with the exception of twenty-four weeks when out of employ , up to the present time , which is three years . This want of work reduces my average earnings to 25 s . 4 £ d . per week for that period , and I consider myself lortunate in obtaining employment . There are many I know whose overtime in the summer covers the loss of time in the
winter ; others , termed ' old hands in shops , are kept on constantly for many years without being subject to any lost time . Without disputing the truth of the statement of the correspondent of the Mornintj Chronicle , I think it ought to be qualified by stating that the class of work and wages he alludes to are confined to speculating builders of small houses around the outskirts of the town ; and the men are voung—just come uj > from the country , unknown in
London , and glad to accept a job upon any terms ; or lads who are just introduced into the trade , who work at it as a kind of apprenticeship , and when they become better tradesmen geek for better wages in better employment . But by far the largest number of carpenters and joiners in London receive their 5 s . a-day . Of course in all shops there are a number of young men who work at the business as improvers , whose wages are regulated by age or capability .
But the evil of speculating , letting , and subletting , I am sorry to say , is a fast-growing one , and the introduction of improved machinery for executing joiners' work in large firms is undermining the trade . The establishment of associations in our trade is difficult , owing to the extent of stock and premises required , credit to be given , and capital to pay wages while the job is in hand . It would be better , I think , for the masters to allow the men a share of the profits in addition to their waires , and to elect the foremen from among themselves , subject to his approval . But by far the easiest and most
practicable remedy would be the establishment of associations in new buildings on the land , which would at once relieve the labour market , without disturbing any of the existing arrangements between employer and employed , end settle this vexed question of the franchise , by giving ihe vote to the men on acc ^ uuO of the property they had created . There is no fear of all tho world at once rushing into communities ; prejudice and selfishness ure too deep rooted in the mass of society to allow any but the ardent and enthusiastic to become pioneers in tho great work that shall change men from combatants to brothers .
A ho chief evils I find in ihe trade are tho uncertainty of employment , both as to when and where you will obtain it ; tho expense of tools in the first instance , and tho constant expense of replacing lost , broken , and worn out ones ; and the blank future when you arc not able to work . J . C . Aunaud , 7 , Queen-Rtreet , Grosvenor-squaro , a late Subscriber to the Weekly Tribune , and now a Supporter of tho Leader ,
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Aug . 3 , 1850 . ] fttfr * % Lt * iftt . 441
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 3, 1850, page 441, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1849/page/9/
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