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Leader (1850-1860), 22nd February 1851, Edition Town of 2, Page 183, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      the unenfrancised possess among us was better understood , better developed , and better disciplined , the people - would become conscious of their influence , and acquire a better tone . They evidently do not know their own power , they so often behave like a man who wants to make an impression , and does not know how . He rants , and blusters , and swaggers ; but when a genuine man comes in of real strength , and who knows it , his self-reliance , quiet air , and resolute demeanour inform everybody that he is not to be overcome . He does not say so , he is too much in earnest to think it necessary . So it will be with the Sovereign people when they have once been taught their own power . Ion .

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      ^ The committee appointed to take advantage of the Exhibition of 1851 for the promulgation of the principles of Social lteforin , met on Wednesday evening , when letters were read from Coventry , Hull , Edinburgh , and Aberdeen , stating that committees hud been formed in each of those towns to assist the central committee in raising the necessary funds . The follo wing letter from Mr . Owen was also read : — Spring-grove , Hounslow , Feb . 18 . Dkah Sih , —I approve the plan proposed by the committee , and 1 hope they will ( succeed in their object . The opportunity to disseminate important trutha to nations in « short period 1 ms never before occurred under such favourable auspices . Whatever I can do to promote this object will be moat willingly done , and I will with pleasure W m the tracts requested by the committee . My kind rcgarda to each of the members , &c , I remain , my dear Sir , yours truly , Uohkut Owion . Mr . Kenny , lute president of the John-ntreet Institution , wu » unanimously elected treasurer . IIaht ax 1 ' i . ouk SotuiiTY . —We hnve received the uaiance-aheet of the abovo society , by which we arc en-?• 4 « i . > o » ecord tho Ratifying fact of a balance of jc . hu /¦ . Hd . , „ favour of tho society , being a elear gain J" !" amount on the half-year ending l ) ca . 31 , 1850 . tl . « rt > UU , 1 H moBt 8 ftt » 8 ftt 0 tory , and tends to « how that « Lrr ? * A ? yo P " noiple , if intelligently and honestly « urn » a out , must inevitably be attended with auccess .

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      MARRIAGE WITH A DECEASED WIFE'S SISTElt . J'Vb . 10 , 1851 . Siu , —It will be in your recollection that tho bill introduced by Mr . Stuart Wortley , after having twice gone through its several stages in the House of Commons , and the last year having even entered the House of Lords , was at last a remanet of tho session ; and the sufferers under Lord Lyndhurst ' s act are again on the alert to reintroduce the new bill without delay to the Upper House . It is well known that the most factious opposition to this bill has pursued it at every stage ; and , were not the sufferers acutely feeling the wrongs they and their children endure , they would long ago have given up the contest in despair . During a recent casual survey of the important town of Birmingham , no leas than 800 persons were discovered who were living in defiance of tho law . Thus a feeling of disgust is last setting in , which speedily will end in o . total disregard of all religious observances , unless common justice ih obtained , and the law of God is not mado a mockery of by ho miscalling the canons of the Church , which are simply tho laws mado by man for his own individual gain and advantage . Already various meetings are being holdcn in different parts of the country to petition the Houho of Lords . There has been a splendid one at Birmingham , imd a few days ago a very large and Npiritcd one at Sheffield . The opposition at both these meetings is drawn to a Mingle point . I » the mnrriago of a widower with the Mister of the deceased wife contrary or not contrary to tho word of God ? Tho petitioners for Mr . Stuart Wortley ' s bill nay No . Tho Archbishop of Dublin and three or four other

      bishops say—No . Above 150 clergymen of the Church of England , and those the most distinguished of any in the land , say—No . But , above all , reason and common sense say—No also ! The canons of the Church , which can now only be referred to , are relics of the spiritual despotism of the dark ages , undermining the authority of all law , and causing thousands to break the laws of their country which otherwise would with cheerfulness have been obeyed ! An intelligent speaker at the Sheffield meeting observed : — " Did these bigoted persons think that the people in this country were without their Bibles ? He had studied his Bible from his boyhood ; but he could not find a word forbidding these marriages which by the law of man are considered illegal . "

      At a meeting of gentlemen in London of those who are deeply interested in the subject it was resolved , " That , in our conscientious and deliberately-formed judgment , marriage with the sister of a deceased wife is neither contrary to God ' s word , nor repugnant to natural feeling" ; and again , " That the act commonly called Lord Lyndhurst ' s Act , being in opposition to the word of God , is consequently set at nought by all classes , and has thus occasioned wide-spread mischief , which nothing but its repeal can remedy . " The decisions of courts of law against the validity of such marriages have been manifestly founded upon construction

      an erroneous of the LeviticalCode , which expressly confines the prohibition to the marriage of a wife's sister in her lifetime . Leviticus , chap , xviii ., v . 18 . It would , therefore , be but common fairness to give likewise the chapter and verse where contrary passages are written ; but this the Tractarians , who are the chief opponents of Mr . Stuart Wortley's bill , are not able to do . However , these gentry have quite enough on . their hands at the present ; let us , therefore , hope that , in their present humiliated state , their opposition in the House of Lords may not be quite so factious as for the last two sessions it has been in the House of Commons

      There is no blood relationship or kin between the parties , and therefore no physical ground for the prohibition ; and very frequently the similarity of person , feelings , or habits , points out the sister as the most natural successor of a deceased wife , while she is almost invariably the fittest person to take charge of the motherless children . Let , then , the opponents of the unjust and cruel law , which was passed only fifteen years ago , join hand and heart in another , and it is justly hoped a last , effort to get the act of Lord Lyndhurst entirely erased from the Statute Book ! In the first place , it is a law contrary to nature ; and in the second place , it is a law at variance with the law of God . I am , Sir , your constant reader , Axpiied .

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      THE WORKING MEN'S ASSOCIATIONS IN PARIS . Feb . 18 , 1851 . Sir , —I send you enclosed the translation of a letter lately received by Louis Blanc from one of the working men ' s associations which he founded in Paris . It is an interesting document , as showing the strength of those affections which this most practical of the French Socialists excited in the breasts of men who , by the noble sentiments which still animate them , by gratitude to their benefactor , and b y their determination to work out a great principle have manifested that they are worthy of such a friend . —J . E . S .

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      " Paris , Jan . 1 , 1851 . " Dkah Cm / . bit , —We cannot allow the new year to pass without communicating to you our fondest wishes and affection . " Our fraternal association ( here follows the name ) , the child of your exertions , has never forgotten the debt it owes to your noble and generous efforts . As the defender of our liberties , and protector of our emancipation , your name , deur citizen , will ever be revered und loved by each individual member . " May these few words , the inspirations of perfect sincerity , dictated by our hearts' aflVctioim and gratitude alleviate the sorrows of your exile , and give you the courage to wait , yet patiently , the hour of your deliverance , which is indeed the object of all our aspirations and our hopes . " Accept , dear citizenour fraternal greeting . "

      , ( Here follow f > 5 naiAea of the members of the association , and their director ; which , aa well as the name of the association are omitted , lent tho advocates of so Btanch a Republican should be visited with vengeance by the present Republican Government . )

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      THE EDINBURGH REVIEW ON SOCIALISM . LeeilB , Jan . a » , 1851 . Sir , —I am glad to see that the Edinburgh Review has taken up the cudgels against Socialism . Believing that on this subject we , have tho best of tho argument , all we desire i » the fullest discussion . One of the fundamental errors of tho reviewer seetiiH to Hpring from his confounding monopoly with association . Somehow ho cannot understand regulation made for tho benefit of the whole and retitrictions made for the benefit of a clasH . My Hpace will not allow mo to cite exuinple of this ; but an attentive reader of the m tide will detect repeated in / stancoa of it . Of the employment and organization of our sur-.

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      Feb . 22 , 1851 . ] © Ul > ^ tatitt . 183

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      At the weekly meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Charter Association , it was moved by Mr . Reynolds , seconded by Mr . Harney , " That the date for the assembling of the Convention be postponed until the first Monday in June , unless a dissolution of Parliament , or any other incident of great political importance should render it expedient to summon the Convention to meet at an earlier period , for the following reasons : —1 . As from the mass of correspondence received , it appears evident that numerous localities require more time to collect funds and accomplish the arrangements for the delegation . 2 . Because , after mature deliberation , it has been deemed advisable that the Convention should be held at a period when most members of the class especially interested in the cause of Chartism will be in London ; * so that a good spirit may be inspired amongst them , and the work of proselytism may receive an ini-_ pulse . 3 . Because the postponement will afford ample time for the whole Chartist public to discuss the programme of business to be submitted for the consideration of the Convention ; and 4 . Because , during the interval it is proposed that one or two members of the Executive shall visit the provinces , attend meetings , and assist in arousing the democratic spiiit . " The resolution was adopted after a long discussion , Mr . Jones being the only dissentient .

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      IMPORTANT PETITION . The following form of petition ( by working men ) for the legalization of Industrial Associations has been sanctioned by the council of promoters : — " To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled . " The humble petition of the several persona whose names are hereunder written Bhoweth , " That your petitioner ? are persons supporting themselves by their labour in various handicrafts or trades , which they are desirous of carrying on in common upon their own account for the support of themselves and their families . " That your petitioners have at present no means of associating tog-ether for the above purpose , under the sanction of the law , beyond the number of twenty-five , otherwise than und « r the provisions of the Joint Stock Companies Act , 7 and 8 Viet ., c . 110 ; but that the expense of registration under that act in most cases greatly exceeds their resources , whilst many of its provisions are either needless or even prejudicial , for the purposes of associated labour . " That if the old common law of England applicable to partnerships had continued unaltered , your petitioners are advised that they would have been enabled to make such voluntary agreements as would have helped in carrying- out tho objects they have in view . " That the objects of your petitioners are analogous in many respects to those contemplated by the acts relating to Friendly Societies , which have been extended of late years to Building Societies and Loan Societies ; and that such objects could be readily carried out by the machinery supplied by these acts . " Your petitioners , therefore , humbly pray that the provisions of the said acts relating to Friendly Societies may be extended to all associations of working men formed for the purpose of carrying on their trade , labour , or handicraft , for the benefit of themselves and their families , in like iimnner as they have been extended to Building Societies and Loan Societies . " And your petitioners will ever pray , &c . " ( Signatures . ) [ The petitions may be written on paper , aud they should be oent to members without covers , or in covers open at the sides , and will go by post fre «> , if not exceed , ing the weight of thirty-two ounces . ] — Christian Socialist .

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      EPISCOPAL TITLES . Feb . 12 , 1851 . Sik , —Permit me to call your attention , and that of every opponent of solemn " shams , " to the following extract from the speech of Lord Ashley , delivered in the House of Commons last Monday . His lordship is reported to have said that : — " No one had proved , or attempted to prove , and it was his firm belief that no one was able to prove , that territorial titles were in any degree necessary to the exercise of episcopal functions . { Hear , hear . ) A territorial title was a worldly and material affair . The office of bishop was a spiritual concern altogether . ( Hear , hear . ) Would any one venture to assert that Archbishop Wiseman could not exercise , within the jurisdiction assigned to him , archiepiscopal functions , unless he were called Archbishop of Westminster ? { Hear , hear . ) It was , he knew , said that bishops of the Roman Catholic Church must havea local habitation and a name . Granted . Then why did not Dr . Wiseman call himself Archbishop of the Roman Catholics in Westminster ? { Some laughter . )" Now , might not these words be justly retorted upon the Established Church , of which Lord Ashley is a member ? If territorial titles are not " in any degree necessary to the exercise of episcopal functians , " and are , moreover , so" worldly and material , " why should they be retained by bishops of the Church of England ? If the office of bishop be " a spiritual concern altogether , " why does his lordship defend the temporal rank of his own ecclesiastical superiors ? Will any one venture to assert that Bishop Blomfield could not exercise , within the jurisdiction assigned to him , episcopal functions , unless he is called Bishop of London ? All the inhabitants of that diocese are not episcopalians , nor even Christians ; why , then , does not Dr . Blomfield call himself Bishop of the Anglo-episcopalians in London ; Protestant Dissenters have as much reason to call out against the insolence of Bishop Blomfield as Churchmen have to complain of the " aggression " of Cardinal Wiseman . F . G .

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      There is no learned man but will confess he hath much profited b y readme 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 . —M ilton .

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      v [ In this department , as all opinions , however extreme , are allowed an expression , the editor necessarily holds himself responsible for none . ]

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  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 22, 1851, page 183, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1871/page/19/