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alluded to was peculiarly distressing to her sex . She proposed to form a general committee and a sub-committee to transact the daily business . The memorial was adopted , and the committees appointed . The ladies present were , the Duchesses of Sutherland , Bedford , and Argyll ; the Countess of Shaftesbury , Lady Constance Grosvenor , Viscountess Palmerston , Lady Dover , Lady Cowley , Lady Ruthveii , Lady Bellhaven , Hon . Mrs . Montagu Villiers , Hon . Mrs . Kinnaird , the Lady Mayoress , Lady Trevelyan , Lady Parke , Miss Parke , Mrs . Owen , Mrs . Carpenter , Mrs . Buxton , Miss Buxton , Mrs . John Simon , Mrs . Proctor , Mrs . Binney , Mrs . Holland , Mrs . Steane , Mrs . John Bullar , Mrs . D . Grainger , Mrs . Sutherland , Mrs . Mary Howitt , Mrs . Hawes , Mrs . Dicey , Miss Trevelyan , Mrs . Milman , Miss Taylor , Mrs . Macaulay , Mrs . Robson .
The ladies whose names follow signified their concurrence :- —The Duchess ( Dowager ) of Beaufort , Marchioness of Stafford , Countess of Derby , Countess of Carlisle , Lady John Russell , Countess of Litchfield , Countess of Cavan , Viscountess Ebrington , Viscountess Melbourne , Lady Atherton , Lady Blantyre , Lady DufFerin , Lady Easthope , Mrs . Josiah Conder , Hon . Mrs . Cqwper , Lady Clark , Lady Buxton , Lady Kaye Shuttle . worth , Lady Inglis , Mrs . Malcolm , Mrs . Seeley , Mrs . Lyon Playfair , Mrs . Charles Dickens , Mrs . Murray , Mrs . Charles Knight , Mrs . Marsh , Mrs . Champneys , Mrs . Rowland Hill , Mrs . Alfred Tennyson . [ Lady Kaye Shuttleworth denies that she authorized the use of her name . Lord Shaftesbury has published passages in her letter to him , which certainly imply her concurrence in the objects of the meeting . ]
Several letters have appeared in the Times respecting this meeting . An Englishwoman points out , that it would be better for the ladies of England to prevail on the ladies of America to eradicate that feeling which impels all classes to insult , scorn , and revile all who are tinged with African blood , than to pass addresses against slavery : — " Slavery is an institution — a detestable one I fully admit ; but it must be dealt with as an institution . But colour , race , blood , are not institutions—they are subjects , not for legislation , but for sympathy and antipathy ; they fall into the domain of feeling—the domain over which women reign paramount . "
The wife of Academicus shows that the protesting ladies wear cotton in all shapes , the produce of slave labour . " R . G- 1 ) , " says the American ladies will bid our aristocratic agitators " look at home" and ameliorate the condition of the London poor . And Lady Shuttleworth says— " So long as American women can justly taunt the women of England with the neglect , ill-usage , and starvation payment of the lady teachers employed in their families , there is little hope of their listening to our protests on the subject of slavery . " It must be understood that all these writers heartily denounce the abomination of slavery .
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SLAVE LAW IN NEW YORK . Mn . Lemmok was a slave owner in Virginia . Last month , desiring to go to Texas , he set out for New Orleans , via New York , going by sea . to New York , and expecting to transfer his property and his wife ' s slaves to a steamer . However , he landed them , and they were claimed sis free . The case was brought into court , : uul on the V 3 t \\ inst ., Judge Payne delivered his decision in the case of eight slaves who claimed their liberty on the ground that they had been taken into New York by their master , by which act they had been made fiee . The mse eiune to an issue under a writ of habeas corpus issued to the respondent , Jonathan Lcnmiou , wht ! claimed the coloured persons as the slaves of his wife , and demanded that they should be delivered up to her on the ground that kIio had been their owner for several years past , she being n resident of Virginia , a slaviiliohling Slate , and that by the constitution and laws of ( bat Stale they bad been and still were bound to her service as slaves ; thai . she was now ,
with \\ vv said wluveK , in- lr < nisUit from Virginia to Texas , another slavoholding Stale , by the constitution and lawn of which nIh ; would be entitled to the slaves and to their service ; that she never had any intention oi bringing them into Hie State to remain or reside , but was passing through the harbour of New York on her way from Virginia to Texas , when she wns compelled by necessity fo touch or hind , without intending to remain longer than \ yu » necessary .
Af'ttr detailing portions of l , hu evidence , bis Honour read tlu ) following section of the net under which the cane came : —• " Any person , not . being an inhabitant of this State , who shall b «' t travelling to or from or panning through this State , may bring with him any person lawfully bold by him in slavery , mid may tiike ' mich person with him from this State ; but I ho jx'ihoii no held in slavery Hhall not reside or continue in thin Slate more than niiio months , and it Huch reHideiu-o bo continued beyond that time , mieh person Hhall bo tree . " Such wns and hud always been the law of thia Btuto , down to tlie year 1841 . Tlio Legislature of that
year passed an act amendin g the Revised Statutes , in the following words , —viz .: —" The 3 rd , 4 th , 6 th , 6 th , and 7 th sections of Title 7 , Chapter 20 , of the first part of the Revised Statutes are hereby repealed . " The sixth section of the Revised Statutes , and that alone , contained an exception which would have saved the slaves of the respondent from the operation of the 1 st section . The Legislature , by repealing that section , and leaving the 1 st in full force , have , as regards the rights of these peop le and of their master , made them absolutely free ; and that not merely by the legal effect of the repealing statute , but by the clear and deliberate intention of the Legislature . It is impossible to make this more clear than it is by the
mere language and evident objects of the two acts . It was , however , insisted on the argument that the words " imported , introduced , or . brought into this State , " in the 1 st section of the Revised Statutes , meant only " introduced or brought" for the purpose of remaining here . So they did undoubtedly when the Revised Statutes were passed , for an express exception followed in the 6 th section , giving that meaning to the 1 st . And when the Legislature afterwards repealed the 6 th section , they entirely removed that meaning , leaving the 1 st section , to what its
and intending to leave it , mean own explicit and unreserved and unqualified language imports . " Not thinking myself called upon to treat this case as a casuist or legislator , " continued the judge , " I have endeavoured simply to discharge my dut y as a judge , in interpreting and applying the laws as I find them . Did not the law seem to me so clear , I might feel greater regret that I have been obliged to dispose so hastily of a case involving such , important consequences . My judgment is , that the eight coloured persons mentioned m the writ be discharged . "
The eight persons were then placed in coaches by Louis Napoleon ( the coloured man who had demanded their release ) , and driven off amid great cheering and waving of handkerchiefs from the coloured persons present . This case is of great importance , as it may probably determine future cases . For instance , Illinois , a free State , is projected southward between portions of Missonri and Kentucky , slave states . A narrow slip of Virginia extends northwardly beyond the back of the State , between Pennsylvania and Ohio . The ordinary line of land travel between Missouri and Kentucky is across Illinois . The ordinary travel between the point
of Virginia referred to and Kentucky is by way of the Ohio river , in boats that stop at ports in Ohio . " Will the slaves passing over these ordinary routes be held to be free ?
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NATIONAL DEFENCE . Whatever else the Derby Ministry may do they seem disposed to provide for the defence of the nation . Some important announcements have this week been made by the Times and the Herald on this subjectthe former having the priority of information . First there is to be an increase in THE NAVY . " The public will learn with great satisfaction that tho Government has resolved to call upon Parliament to vote the necessary supplies for a ' considerable addition to tb " o naval forces of the country . It is not , as we have frequently had occasion to remark , in . the number of her Majesty ' s ships of war that our chief deficiency is to be traced , and probably there never was a timo or" peace at which a moro powerful naval armament could be equipped for sea . Uut the most essential condition of our maritime strength is a body of well-trained seamen to man those vessels , and to contribute to tho defence of our coasts . The commission which has been sitting for some time past to consider tho best means of manning tho navy , has adopted
several valuable , suggestions from officers whoso judgment arid experience may bo relied on ; and wo presume that it is in consequence of these recommendations that tho Government and tho Admiralty have resolved to add about ( " >()()<) seamen to tho licet , with a proportionate addition to tho Marine * . It would bo an error to attribute to this measure a greater degree of political importance than it deserves , and although it happens to correspond in point of time with the proclamation of tho French Empire , then ; is probably no direct connexion between tho two
incidents . Hut we cannot bo ignorant that an extraordinary degree of activity has prevailed for some timo past ia the dockyards of our most powerful neighbour , ami that while Homo show has been inndo of a reduction in tho French army , tho navy of that country has been , iiuguuiiitcdtou . il unprecedented oxlent . To place ) our own protective forces on at least mi equal footing , is , therefore , tho first duty of the Ministers of this country , arid we are satisfied that tho nation will gliully respond to a call which does not exceed what our pacific policy and our territorial nocurity absolutely require . "
This appeared in tho Times on Monday ; on Wednesday the Herald supplied the figures to the facts of tjio Times announcement : — " Orders huvo recently been issued to hasten tho preparations for commencin g tho construction of tho batteries in the Isle of Wight , and to expedite tho works as much us possible . We understand that it is proposed in the now estimates to add to tho present strength of tho Royal Marines lfi ( H ) men . We stated some timo since that the naval forces ol" Kngland would include ton ficrew line-ofliattle ships . We believe that before this timo noxtyoar we shall have double this number of two and throo deckors propelled by screw machinery afloat . Messrs . I ' enn and «> ., and Messrs , Maudsliiy and Field , are ordered to construct , screw machinery for eight of tho lino-of-battlo nliips in course- of conversion . "
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PRUSSIAN OPINION OP BRITISH MILITIA . Some admirable remarks on military matters in England have been supplied by a Prussian officer to the Journal of the Prussian Army . His last communication "treats of the newly-raised Militia , and his remarks on that body possess considerable interest , as those of a ; fair observer , critical enough , perhaps , on a force soi new , but not prejudiced . We can see by them at least . how we appear to others : — " With , this Militia no one seems to know exactly what is to be done . To the English , usually so practical , it is ; a subject of just astonishment , for a greater contradiction , in itself , a more half-and-half force than the Militia , cannot
exist . It is evident that the Government wished something more and something different , but must be satisfied with it for the present , since in time something useful will certainly be made out of it . As it stands , no country has anything resembling it . It is not a national guard , for the men are enlisted , and receive bounty and pay , and are under martial law . Neither is it a reserve or landwehr , for in three weeks' exercise soldiers cannot be made ; besides , it is only , for the present at least , for home service . What is it , then ? I know only of one comparison to itour old recruits for the landwehr , a phase of our organization we have fortunately outlived . Of the thirty regiments drawn together in the different counties for drill , I have seen two , in Middlesex , and have brought away the
conviction that the force will not be left as it is ; for that the practical spirit of the people is a guarantee . The especial ' defect of the institution lies in the officers , for the men are good strong fellows , short , determined in spirit ,, and yet willing . Only the drill " sergeants and the officers who * have been taken from the line know what they are about-All the rest it is almost grievous to look at . The officers are full of zeal for the service , but they do not succeed ^ nor will they till something very different is set on foot . " The remedy for this would be to give commands t retired officers of the army , instead of country gentlemen , or to afford as much encouragement as possible t ©> old officers engaged in other branches of the state service to enter the militia , by securing them against
pecuniary loss . There can be no want of such men in England if they were secured a fair position . The Prussian landwehr is wholly officered by men who have served in the line , though but for the short term of a year ; we have the materials for a corps of officers of much greater experience ; but the Prussian observer has not gone into the question of expense , on which all depends . He thinks the infantry exorcise too complicated , and that some of the positions are useless , judging by the Prussian standard , winch is , however , a vciy good one ; and praises the forbearance of the commanders , who limit tho marching drill to what is absolutely necessary for forming line and changing front ; ^ he counts up a whole list of evolutions required hi tho held which the recruits are wisely spared for th ' c present .
He then continues : — " When I say that in time something very different willl bo made of this militia , 1 give not . my own opinion only ,. but that of many experienced English officers . *> no tlnntf alono is required to effort it— a national excitement of some kind : a distinct threat of an invasion , much more the actual . attempt , , would do it . What , no one ( a few otlicers ex--eepted ) will now recognize in tho militia , would then i » . seen ; and what in here called into existence ih not , hoeasily given up as in other countries ; the enthusiasm <» tho nation would then bo fixed . " He mentions many of the different proposals i » : >< for tho improvement of the milifia , and the ph' «* sketched for giving it . permanent occupation ; be thinK * they all prove f ho existence of u general feeling Mmthe ' fore * ' contains the material of a body thut ihujt hereaHer do good Horvico . In the equipment ho ™ nothing to praise : — . # (() " Tim eye of u Prussian officer ennnot accustom it ™ ^ the uniforms , which Hit . on the men like sacks ¦ * " * . of culting them to the shape of the human body »« " , ' been entertained . Thousands of coats are i » u <*<> _ pattern and number , and served out , by a «»«« J » » " , ^ . . The result is ludicrous , and deprives tborneri of th < * 'i like bearing and appearance the drill may huy « h them ; but ill the local papers all is nat isfaction »» ' | JW Tho citizens of tho provincial towns in which U «> ^ menta mo drawn together admire , ubovo all tu « if , n ,
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1154 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
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Secondly , we are to have an addition to THE ARTILLERY . " Yet it is upon the Artillery we must mainly relv f ™ the speedy destruction of an invading force . To reDa this defect in our preparations , orders have just been issued for the enlistment of 2000 additional artillerymen andf ™ the purchase of 1000 horses , which are to 6 e excWefv appropriated to thia branch of the service . Nor is this all Vigorous measures are in progress for the construction of so many carnages and ammunition wagons as may be re quisite for 200 field guns . At the present rate of preDa ration these batteries will be ready for service Vy the latterend of winter , or early in the spring ; but if any greater expedition were necessary , the time of preparation could be very materially shortened . This is a portion of themilitary preparations which must not be postponed for guns are not cast , nor carriages constructed , nor horse s purchased , nor artillerymen trained , in a day . "
The Times published this on . Tuesday . The offences of the Herald , it is clear , have not been unmarked ia Dovvning-street .
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 4, 1852, page 1154, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1963/page/6/
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