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    Untitled Article

    inclination to crime dimimshes . Any one may satisfy himself 4 )* personal observation , either of the raw recruits or of the finished soldiers of the Cavalry and Artillery , that they are drawn from the same classes of society as furnish the men for the Infantry . The Dragoons acquire a more polished and confident manner from the closer and nrore famiijaT intercourse with-theirvbfficeys , arising feom their daily meetings at " stables , " and tne nature of their duties in general . The Sarmers and Artillerymen are held in general

    esteem from their acquired knowledge and accomplishments , scholastic and professional , for the attainment of which great facilities and encouragement are offered . A man must have had some previous education befdre he can enter the Sappers and Miners , but many a good mathematician and draughtsman has learned all that he knows , even reading and writing , in the Artillery schools . And the soldiers in these branches of the service , although receiving the same rations as the Infantrv , are able , from their slightly higher pay ,

    to contribute more for their messing , and their meals are therefore better both in quality and quantity . They are also clothed in a superior manner , with regard to materials and to appearance . In most stations they have an advantage as to barrack accommodation , but in this respect all have much to complain of . How must the young recruit ' s dream of the honour and respec " tability of his profession vanish when he finds some of his married comrades and their wives occupying the saine room with twenty or thirty bachelorsand merely separated from them by a

    , curtain I Loss of self-respect is loss of selfcommand . And the poor soldiers of the Line— -forming , as we said , five-sixths of the army , and who ^ have done ninety-nine hundredths of the fighting in the last thirty-five years ; half of whose service ^ " passed in " foreign parts , " and fully one-third in unhealtib . 3 r climates , _— - are worse paid , worse clothed , worse fed , and less instructed than their

    more fortunate brethren , who , in consequence of being two or three inches taller , have been able to enlist in the Artillery or Pragobus . The I » fantry soldier has not in . general very hard ¦ work , ( and so much the worse for him , ) but his duties are monotonous , vexatious , and often frivolous , really without any object but to " keep him out of mischief . " The qualifications ^ for promotion merely extend to reading and writing , so that there is not much inducement for him to

    study . And in a crowded , cheerless barrackroom , with an apology for a fire—all bustle and noise by day , and the darkness just made visible at night by a few farthing dips , —there is little possibility of carrying on such pursuits . What life can be better calculated to induce apathy or recklessness P

    The artilleryman and the dragoon are clothed in a becoming and serviceable uniform ; the Guards wear coats of good , well-dyed cloth , and not disfigured with those bars of tape across the front which distinguish the men of the line . In order to keep these stripes of tape white and " clean" for parade and guard ,, the soldier is obliged to make a frequent use of pipe-clay in a liquid state , and the coatee is often worn of

    necessity while many parts are still wet , particularly about the chest , —a practice not very conducive to health , especially for . young growing lads , "lie whole dress seems studiously invented to make the man mean and ridiculous in appearance . With his brickdust-coloured coat , of a fabric much inferjbr in tint . and . toxture to that worn by the boys of the Shoe-black Brigade , and with & 8 'ate-colourod trousers , his entire figure aitorda a dingy sort of example of the proverbial chromatic discord , sky-blue and scarlet . Wo have no affection for a standing army ; we think that even now we might begin to form a national

    defensive force ; we wish to see our citijsonei moro of soldiers . But as wo must , at least lor Indian and colonial service , have a regular army , wo wish to soo our soldiers moro of citizens ; wo wish to see their characters and capabilities improved and enlarged , instead of being in many cases deteriorated and lessened , by their period of military service . , # It is a groat stop to have given up flogging men into degradation and despair for offences involvius littlo if any moral guilt ; and we hope that it will not bo long before that species of torture is ontu-ely abandoned , and a specimen of the British t ? " ° )" nino-tails hung up in . some obscure part of ttte lower as a companion to the thumb-screws

    and the scavenger ' s-daughter . But a greater work is to be done . There has been too much attention paid to the punishment and too little to the prevention of crime . We know that the subject is not now entirely neglected ; military schoolmasters are being trained and set to work , and soldiers' libraries are encouraged and increasing . We fully appreciate the extension of the good-conduct ' warrant . But we must have comfort , and decency , and a possibility of quiet in

    barracks . Inducements to study and exertion should be created by raising the knowledge-test for promotion , and by opening still more the road to the higher ranks . And there is no reason that our soldiers should be totally unproductive ; employment might be found for them , which would at once advantage them and the state , which would exercise their bodies and minds , increase their self-respect , br ighten their prospects , and confer upon their social position something even of comfort and of dignity .

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    THE " SISTERS OF MERCY" AND LOWCHURCH CHIVALRY . Another "Morgan" has turned up , but this time he calls himself "SpurreU " - —the Beverend Jaines SpurreU , A . M . Like his sympathetic fellow-worker , at Leamington , this gentleman is engaged as a minister of the Gospel , iri acts of mean discourtesy to ladies , but surpassing Morgan in uncharitableness , he adds misrepresentation to disrespect , and an awful profanity to both . There is an institution , near Devonport , for ladies who call themselves " Sisters of Mercy , " whose superior is the fax-famed Miss Sellon , and who , externally , are known for nothing , more than their singular costumes and beneficent , acts . They lead lives devoted to the duties of their religion , and to succouring the poor . They have certain distinctions among themselves , certain rules , and a certain discipline . They derive their members from a class of young women who are rich and well educated , and who feel themselves , or Tancy themselves , " called" to lives of devotion . They belong to the Church of England , and are under the immediate superintendence of the Bishop of the diocese . Also the charitable works of Miss Sellon and her " sisters , " include certain schools for orphans .

    These works of mercy offended the nostrils of the Reverend James Spurrell—who , from Ms unctuous manner , we are sure must be a ' low , ' a very ' low / churchman ; and he , having got together , by hook or by crook , a quantity of private letters , and a very pretty collection of fabulous anecdotes , set about criticising—not the public acts—but the private doings of Miss Sellon ! He then proceeds to publish the result of his labours , ostentatiously boasting that the duty " had not V ' * T- 1 _ A . 7 _ . T— 'X . nHi . J . ** lk « w « ' •¦» 4-lts * dIaam miu uud wtm

    _ Deen SOUgUt uy , UUl BCJUli vu , xu providence of God . " And what are the results of this divine commission P a series of unmanly and untrue allegations against Miss Sellon . Mr , Spurrell snuffed " Romanism" in everything . He had filched hold of private letters ; he had been in communication with a recalcitrant " sister ; " he had taken as gospel truth all she told him , or all he alleges she told him ; and in a pamphlet breathing of fire and brimstone , and seasoned with that mixture of pious horror , and

    deprecating calumny , which ranters do affect , he voids his holy venom to the world . Miss Sellon has condescended to reply , giving a clear , calm , and dignified refutation of the gross misstatements edited by her inspired traducer , tho Reverend James Spurrell . Her vindication is so triumphant and so uncompromising , that if he have but a spark of manliness in his compoeition he will , ere this , have apologised to the utmost of hia power .

    But he , and such as he , are incapable of an act of chivalry . Ho has been indignantly addressed by Captain Sellon , tho father of tho persecuted lady , and by Mr . David Chambers , a barrister of eminence , and Recorder of Salisbury , a brother of one of tho " Sisters : " but not until the letters of the latter gentleman to himself , which he had disdained to notice , had boon

    published in tho Morning JPost , would ho respect himself sufficiently to send a reply , and then not to the injured persons , but to the Morning JPost And how did ho , tho self-appointed minister of Providence , meet that charge of cowardice " and breach of faith P Ho referred tho aggrieved father , and tho outraged brother—to tho law ! Thia is , we beg our readers to bo well assured , but a fair specimen , of low-churoh chivalry . It

    is the tone r— the temper of the Morgan and Spurrell party , dissenting in doctrine and discipline , but not in prizes and benefices , from tne body they disfigure and bring into contempt ; clinging to the Lion and the UnicOrn of theEstablishment , whilst they deny the sacraments * and deform the services , and slur the liturgy of th © Church ;¦ tasteless as the conventicle ; and tyrannical as the Holy office ; backbiters and busybodies in the parish , yih'fiers and petty-despots i-r * 4-l >» < n » 1 i- > T 4- 4 \ tarr imaoir anrl apt . flfl "IF tft D 6

    " evangelical" were to hold a patent for conduct unwortny of gentlemen , of Christians , of men . We have read the pamphlet in question , and we unhesitatingly say , that it is a wretched compound of self-righteousness , unwarranted imputations , and violated faith Honesty would compel Mr . Spurrell to join the ranks of dissent : decency would recommend him to learn manners . Is not this only another instance of the pressing necessity for Convocation , and of some sort of internal discipline by which the church may at least be able to know her own , and to separate

    the false from the true ? But we speak here in defence of the decencies and the charities of life which humanity remembers , when " pastors and masters" forget .

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    PROTECTION IN THE GAZETTE . Pkotection is at last officially abandoned : it is well that agriculturists' should understand thafc fact—owners and occupiers both . Lord Derby and Mr . Disraeli , who have laboured so well in Opposition to keep alive some pulse and hope in Protection , have entered office only to signify that they will not undertake to carry on the contest . Let there be no mistake on this point : we desire neither to exaggerate nor to underrate what Lord Derby and Mr . Disraeli say . The Earl adheres to his old opinion against free-trade in the " abstract ; " but he now consigns corn to a place of subordinate importance : " The question of the financial and commercial concerns of the country is not & mere question as to the imposition or non-imposition " of a moderate duty on the import of foreign corn . " But he explicitly says that he would not revive either the Navigation Laws or the Corn Laws . "I recollect , at the time the great measure of the Navigation Laws was under discussion , I warned your Lordships against the adoption of it , on the ground that it involved principles which once adopted were final and irrevocable . I made that ; statement at tho time , I repeat it now . I don't desire to go back to the law of 1846 with respect to corn . I don ' t desire to go back to the law of 1842 . " Nothing could be more explicit . Lord Derby only retains his objection against the " extent" U > which the Free-trade policy has been carried , and

    desires in future to " mitigate the consequent Eressure on certain classes . One plan would be , y the moderate duty on the import of foreign corn ; but Lord Derby refers that to " the country . " Mr . Disraeli implies that Ministers will not propose any specific measure , neither the 5 * . duty , nor the 7 s . duty ; but will go to the country for a general judgment on their own character ; and if , by the direct vote of the electoral body , they obtain the confidence of the country , then , as to Protective measures—they will consider of it ! We quote his own words : —

    ? ' But I say frankly to the honourable and learned gentleman [ Mr . Villiers ] , that in considering the fiscal arrangements of this country , I do not—I will notto gain any popularity or to avoid any blustering , give it as my opinion that a duty such as he describes is one which any Minister under any circumstances ought to propose . # # # # I know there is a great desire on tho part of gentlemen opposite that there should be

    a proposition for a fixed duty . ( ' Hear , ' and laughter . ) I regret , for their sakos , that I cannot give a promise to make any proposition of the kind . What I intend to do , with tho assistance and consent of my colleagues , is to redress tho grievances of tho agricultural interest ; and wo reserve to ourselves tho right of considering what may bo tho best menns by which that great object can bo attained . " . ¦

    It was expected that Ministers would take their final stand upon a 5 * . or a 7 s . fixed dluty ; but , it now turns out that they decline to do even that . If tho country should call for a return , so far , to Protection , they will carry it out—such , if we can discover any kind ofpromiflo , is tho , extent of their present pledge . Wo need not point out the immense extent of ground thus abandoned ; the Protectionists now will not even stand whero tho Whigs did before PcoI'b time . ,

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    SlARdB ^ O , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 275

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 20, 1852, page 275, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1927/page/15/