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Leader (1850-1860), 13th March 1852, Edition Town of 2, Page 253

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      That it could have got itself propounded by one so pe-Tifltrated with the lore and admiration of Christ as to « av with evident sincerity , " most devoutly do I wish that His spirit could be introduced into our dail y life and work > " psychological contradiction not likely to diminish their astonishment . . , , I cannbt ' contemplate the course pursued by theLeadtr on this subject without forebodings . It has advocated the arming of the people with , " apparently , an indirect view to the settlement of internal no less than international queationB . There lies the hideous danger ; there , the gravity of the delusion . As if an appeal to the inwffl- nropensities—the animal instincts and brute

      force of the people—for the determination of high and difficult questions of social and political science , were not reversal of all rational action ¦! As if the experience of the continent ( especially during these four years past of armed struggle ) were NOT a crushing commentary upon such policy ? As if ,-in particular , the " progress" of the armed and martial-trained French were the mockery it is ! In defiance of all just causation ; in defiance of the positive results of experience ; in defiance of its own profession of faith ( see its motto , which I take to be the embodiment of this faith ) , the Leader cries , " To Arms !? ' "Armthe people , that they may conquer their rights , and assist other theirsThe education of that

      peoples in conquering . spirit which would prevent their rights from being ¦ withheld , is too slow a process—involves too much ' patience and long-suffering , ' too much intelligence , too high and long-sustained endeavours ; it may do for the white-liverod advocates of Peace ; but , for the gallant and generous , the fearless , reckless , impulsive , and brave people , never ! It is all sham . There are no bloodless victories . The pen isTtoi greater than the sword . Those who , by accident of birth , or of position , or of internal power , are now ' dressed in brief authority' Over us , are not of the same nature as ourselves ; do not have the same aspirations towards the good , the true ; the beautiful , and the perfect .

      They neither do , nor wish to do , justice . They do not desire to see the people prosperous , happy , and free . They have no interest in common with us . It is not differences of vision or opinion capable of rational adjustment thatkeep them and us apart . There are-mme of out ' own oi"der * that conscientiously concur in their opinions and principles . There is no difficulty in deciflhig the questions at issue between us . They are wrong ; we are right : to * arms S to arms ! and enforce the right . The foolish doctrine that thereare any essential relations between right and the human soul , whereby the right gets itself admitted in virtue of its own qualities ; that to be admitted it needs only to be seen , is none of ours : to arms ! to arms !"

      Leader , will you not re-consider your grounds ? Ts your great influence to be permanently given to a creed so irrational ? Must we continue to lament that the faculties already only too predominant and active , whence arise the very evils you and all true Leaders are wanted to neutralize and overcome , are to be goaded only into increased predominance and activity ? But I delay " Marie ' s" dissection of this physicalforce policy , done in the light of the Leader ' s motto already referred to . Let me give place . Let me add , merely , that as her verses were almost impromptu , and have not been revised , they are to be taken not as a work of Art . A . L .

      " ARM ! ARM ! ARM !" Leader , 24 ith of January , 1852 . "The ono Idea which History exhibits , as evermore developing itself into greater distinctness , ia the Idea qf Humanity—the noble endeavour to throw down all the barriers erected between men by prejudice and one-sided views , and by setting aside the distinctions of Religion , Country , and Colour ; to treat the _ whole Human race as one brotherhood , having ono great object— the froe development of our spiritual natureB . " —Lbadbb's Motto . " Blind Leader of the blind , " art thou , Who now in rhyming numbers , Wouldat fain awake the Savage Beast That in the " Briton" slumbers , — Who with an outcry , fierce and wild , And voice of shrill alarm , Wouldst call the " gallant volunteers " To wake , arise , " and " arm !"

      Put rifles in the People ' s hands , In readiness for battlp , And teach them how , at longest mark , To shoot down men like cattle ; And whisper as you do ' the deed , That this ia right and good , And " treating the whole human race As one great Jbrotherhood /" ' Tib thus we help to trample down The "barriers erected , "S 7 ius overcome " one-sided views , " Wo fain would soe rejected . A " shout for rifles" soon will teach " Ideas of Humanity , " And cannon-balls instil tho orood Of holy Christianity !

      Well nigh two thousand years ago Mothought our eldor Brothor , A now commandment uttered forth , — That we should "love each other ;"

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      Is < &m sweet love , that gleameth forth With flushed and heated features , — Is this ** the free development Of spiritual natures !" Methinks I see His earnest eyes Reproach thee for this guiding : Methinks I hear His spirit-voice . In serious , gentle chiding :.. ¦ -. I hear His prayer , when they of old , His tender body slew : ' Te slay Mis Spirit / still He saith , * - * . They know not what they doJ " _ Marie Ghorleyj January , 1852 .

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      REGULAR TROOPS AND VOLUNTEERS . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) At . a time when the press teems with letters about " our defences , " " formation of rifle clubs , " disparaging remarks regarding poor old Brown Bess , as a projector of " missiles , " and fearful Munchausens , invented by the would-be-knowing admirers of Minim ' s Rifle , touching the long-range capabilities of that weapon , which now only want a clincher from some of the witty

      American journals , who cap always cap a good story—the Leader takes up the subject , and favours its astonished readers with " Notes on War by a Soldier j" the writer of which not only calls our musket all sorts of hard names , but actually pooh-poohs the rifle ! and tells us that soldiers should scorn " trigger-pulling , " take to trusty steel blades , rush , in on an enemy , and flo g with their keen blades till their arms ache , which would settle the affair in ten minutes . These are tactics

      which he advocates , not so much for a Government standing army , but for what I must call , in Leader phraseology , a People ' s army— -tactics to be adopted by the working classes , who , according to Leader policy , should be all armed to defend their " liberties " from wheresoever attacked . On your contributor the Soldier ' s Part 4 , published in your number of Jan . 31 st , I wish to make a few comments . I observe , that he coincides with the very common opinion , that " the regular soldier , of course , possesses no more than an ordinary share of animal courage , pugnacity , and pride . "

      Civilians , I know , love to flatter themselves that such is the fact , and it would be ill taste in any soldier to argue the point . But bearing , as it does , on the question of superiority of sword-fighting over triggerpulling , as applied to a People ' s army , ( which I presume would be a compulsory service exacted under certain conditions from all citizens ?) I beg to demur to this opinion . ' The soldiers of the British , or any other army , where they are not enlisted by conscription , are the picked fighting men of that country .

      Nobody who takes the trouble to inquire into the antecedents of our soldiers , but will bo convinced , that as a mass , they are possessed of much more animal courage than their peaceful and more respectable stay-at-hoine brethren . They have been the bad boys of their age—truantplaying , bird-nesting , poaching , ne ' er-do-wells , and have worn countless black eyes . A poaching affray , a love quarrel , or a drinking bout introduces them to the dashing recruiting serjeant , who captivates them with a recital of adventures in foreign parts , and they take the shilling , whilo the timid spirit hangs back .

      Assuming , then , that volunteer soldiers have , as a body , more animal courage than their civilian countrymen , I now proceed to consider whether any body of troops could be got to go in in the splendid dashing style demanded by your enthusiastic contributor . I believe not—not even Englishmen . The fact is , such a bull-dog death-or-glory heroism as your " Soldier " would requiro to carry out his tactics against a phi /' sically equal enemy , is , I believe , after all , tho scarcest virtue extant . Wo are accustomed to hoar of gallant battles won ( according to despatches ) in such a " takono-doniol" style , that wo have got to boliovo that highest courage , self-devotion , is a cheap and most common attribute of manhood . Perhaps , If we wore behind tho scenes during tho slaughter of a battle , we should alter such opinion .

      .: I do not believo that you could ( unless your swordsmen woro an army of lunatics ) got thorn to advance undor a hoavy fire , and run on tho bayonets of a determined enemy .. At sixty yards a general discharge from our muskets as now in use would lift thorn off their logs ; and to wavor—rfts wnvor thoy would if they wore but mortal mon—Wpuld * bo certain defeat , if not annihilation . I shall rob your contributor of ono uentonco , to strengthen my own argument . " Carrying a position with tho bayonet , " —" Driving back the onomy witli tho bay * onot , " " are term frequently used by writers of dfe .

      patches and histories , but no living soldier has ever seen two lines of infantry approach so close as to push and thrust and fence with bayonets . " ¦¦ . ¦ Exactly so ; nor will you get men , even armed with a sword , to run on a long line of charging bayonets to try t f he question of superiority of weapons , particularly after they have been decimated four or five times during their advance , and have , perhaps , another similar favour in store for them to be delivered to each swordsman as a prelude to the fencing bout .

      That a mass of swordsmen , properly supported by the other arms of the service , would , if they were all resolved to conquer or die , win a battle from double their number of men using musket and bayonet , I have no doubt , but that there are not 10 , 000 such to be got together , I feel also sure . Death is a fearful thing , and the nearer it is seen , the uglier it looks-Supposing , however , that the swordsmen were superior in animal courage , strength , and weight , as I fondly

      fancy our countrymen are , compared with any continental nation , then , indeed , E . V . ' s hand to hand fighting might answer with the ordinary allowance of national courage , which would be content to cry enough after a severe wound or two , and hobble to the rear ; hut to win a battle from soldiers physically equal , and determined to stand their ground , you must have men resolved to fight like game-cocks , till they are dead , and such death-or-glory boys are scarce .

      I fear , therefore , that " Standing armies , trained and disciplined soldiers , skilled gunners , and costly contrivances and stores , " will "for ever give a preponderance to the powers of despotism (?) over that of a people . " That is to say , that no people , however armed , can hope to win against its trained regular soldiers , particularly should those trained soldiers be raised on the volunteer system—the pugnaees of the country . JBlois . Skottgsman . *

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      AMENDED NEWSPAPER-STAMPS SCHEME . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) Sib ,- —Permit me to make a few remarks on the letter of your correspondent , A . H . G . The letter deals in the most simple and satisfactory manner with the * advertisement duty and the cautionmoney for libel , which latter security , it may be well to state , is required by law , but not in practice , from almost every unstamped publication .

      The subject of copyright is treated in a manner both complicated and unsatisfactory . Surely , the nearest newspapers will be the most dangerous rivals , and if six hours' copyright be a sufficient protection in tho same locality , it would be more than sufficient a hundred miles off . But though a few hours' copyright may be sufficient for news , I see no reason why articles in a newspaper should not be treated as articles in books , and considered as literary property ; it would be easy for the press to have an understanding as to how far they expected this rule to be acted upon .

      A . H . G . s plan for settling tho newspaper stamp question would moke everybody dissatisfied . The present large newspapers would have to pay a higher rate than at present ; the quantity of work dono by tho local posts would bo so increased , that there would probably bo a loss to tho revenue ; for , be it recollected , that tho expense of dolivory depends more on tho number of houses to bo called at , than on tho weight to be delivered at each ; lastly , tho press would not bo froe : why should a man bo forced , to pay a farthing postugo on a paper which ho does not wish to send by post ?

      Tho plain truth is , that wo don ' t want a law about transmitting newspapers , any more than a law about transmitting Manchester cottons or Newcastle coals . If those woro taxed , and the cnrringo to London paid out of tho tax , thoro would bo cotton-spinners found to eay that tho Londoners would wear fig-leaves rather than pay for tho carriago of calicoes , and bore for coal on IJlackhcath rather than freight ships to Newcastle . Instead of A . H . G . ' h plan , I

      propose—1 . A uniform twolvo hours' copyright for news . 2 . Articles to bo tho same as books . 3 . Tho stamp to bo abolished . 4 . Tho post-offico to manage the postugo of newspapers , with frco liberty to any private individual to manage it bettor , if ho can . . ' C . Dodson Commit , Secretary to the Society for Promoting the Repeal qftha Taxes on Knowledge ,

      20 , Great Coram-atreet , February , 1852 .

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      M&X < m 13 , 16 S 2 . ] THE LEAD EB . 253

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      * Wo insert thia letter , tho writer being a military officer , and , therefore , na well able to judge this question as tho author of tho " Notes on War . " —

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), March 13, 1852, page 253, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1926/page/17/