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Leader (1850-1860), 15th January 1853, Edition Town of 2, Page 53

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      only to the ambassador himself . Possibly it might be thought they were making some attempt upon the political virtue of Mr . Ingersoll , but he feared that though BOmo of our ambassadors to foreign courts might easily fee taken in , we could not so easily take in an American Minister . They were met for an honest purpose—to welcome a gentleman who represented a nation that was looked upon with wonder and admiration by every country in the world , and he believed that in offering their cordial respects to Mr . Ingersoll they were only doing what every intelligent and good man in the United Kingdom would approve of .

      " Now , there are little things which arise occasionally that cause irritation between the two countries . I see by the papers that have arrived here from America by the Very last packet—as may be seen from an extract of what I am about to mention in the Times of yesterday or the day before—that there has been a speech delivered by a very eminent man there—General Case—who alludes to things said and done in this country which have an irritating effect qn the minds of the American people ; and I confess I thought his case was not a very strong one . He quoted from two papers certain observations made about the United States which he thought were calculated to have an ill effect . Well , one paper was the Britannia , a paper that I think I have heard of ( laughter ) , but I don't

      know whether more than once or twice I ever saw ; and I certainly never discovered a man who was . a subscriber to it or a reader of it . The other paper was the Sun The Sun is an evening paper , and , like all the London evening papers , of a moderate circulation . The evening papers , like some others , are strangled by the stamp ; they have not a free press , and will wither and die . But whatever may be said in the Britannia or the Sun , I do hope that General Cass and others who read papers—if they look at papers of no influence in this country—will not for one single moment suppose that they express the opinions of that class and body of the population of the country who alone can influence Government , and whose opinion should be taken as the opinion of the population of the

      United Kingdom . I might put it plainer to them . Suppose I quoted certain things that I had read in . the New JTork Herald , and say that was the opinion of the American Legislature and people ; but that would be a libel upon both ; and I hope while there is in that country and in this , great freedom both on the platform and in the pen , that eminent men of both countries will learn that there is something far higher and far deeper and far greater in both countries than is to be expressed or described , or moved , by the irritating observations of some obscure scribe who may write his absurd nonsense in the columns of some obscure paper . ( Cheers . ) I am for viewing the institutions and the course of America with a vigilant but friendly eye . I would copy , so far as I could , all that is good in that country , and if there is anything

      that I thought evil I would remark upon it with regret , but in the most friendly spirit—and the very last thing I would attempt to utter would bo any comment that should have a tendency to irritate the people of that country . If the Americans came hero with their advice , and in an unfriendly spirit , and thought-of dragging us into a change of policy on any question , we should take precisely the course the Americans now take when over zealous people in this country think it necessary to interfere with them . ( Loud cheers . ) Perhaps this is hardly the occasion for saying much about the politics or the institutions of the United States ; but I have a grout authority—a nobleman who only a month ago wan Prime Minister , who attended a dinner at Liverpool within the last two or three days , nnd there descanted , in his usual ablo manner , on aomo of the institutions of the United States . Ho endeavoured to

      draw a parallel between the Senate of the United States and the English House of Lords . I shall express here no opinions as to whether ( lie . House of . Lords in or in not the best legislative assembly wo could have as a second chamber in this country , but , I must altogether protest against the sort of argument , Lord Derby entered upon . . Bear in mind that the Senate of tbo United States is a . s ( irmly fixed in ( heir representative system as the House of ' Representatives . ' Hear in mind that whatever storms and passions disturb the public mind in the United States , the Senate of that country is ultimately the most powerful body to influence and to control tins

      public opinion . On the contrary , i" country ; our Jlouse of Lords , having no hucIi foundations , finds it-Kelf , whenever there is a tumult of political excitement , not ' able to control , scarcely able to check , but always compelled to yieldf . 1 will not , enter into tbo question whether Micro in an enny passage from humble life to the membership of the 1 louse of Lords . 1 should bo the very last man to suppose that , it would be an advantage to me , at any rate , to become a member of such a chamber as that ; but all ofliccs , even the ( illici : of the Kmporor of the Eronch , are open to any man that can get thorn , and ho is thn House of Lords . But the question which Lord Derby < llil not touch wan this , whether it bo advisable that any

      class of men in the country , in any position , hIiouM have the exclusive privileges' which our constitution gives to that lloii . se . Now , 1 am expressing no opinion on it , and Hlinuld never have touched it , if Lord Derby had not , on an occasion like thin , entered into a defence of his order , and endeavoured to persuade < ho people of Kugluud that in their House of Lords they have an assembly of equid wisdom , equal diameter , equal patriotism , and equal durability with I , ho august , Senate of the , United States of America . " ( Cheers . ) Mr . I 5 ri < r lit showed how polit . icul institutions which we , u , r <; now contending lor bad subsisted in Nome ol Ihe stales of America for upwards of two hundred

      yearn . In one Ht . ul . n they lind the " widest , mifVrage and tho Imllol , ; " and in t . lie Hume stale , two hundred y earn ugo , thoro wuh an uct pinned , beginning with those

      remarkable words , — " To the end that learning may not be buried in the graves of our forefathers , " and then it went on to enact that wherever there were fifty householders , one house should be set apart to teach the children of the rest , and wherever there were one hundred families , there should he established a grammar school to train the children , so that they might be fitted , such of them as could , to enter a university . In Maryland , the Catholic Lord Baltimore had established the freest religious liberty , so that the Puritans expelled by the Ep iscopalians of Virginia , and the Episcopalians expelled by the Puritans of New England , found there a refuge . America has religion as much as we have , with no sect dominant ; legal refofms without a Lord Chancellor with a salary of 14 , 000 £ . a

      year ; internal peace without a great standing army ; respect abroad with great squadrons on every coast ; and an admirable system of representation , without rotten boroughs . " England does not fear the United States—the United States do not fear England ; but all gdbd and wise men in both countries fear quarrels between the countries , and fear war , which is the greatest calamity and the greatest crime that can afflict mankind . And it is impossible to say , and I think the most vivid imagination among us would not be able in any degree adequately to portray one thousandth part of the' miseries that would be produced in the world if it were possible that the United States and

      England were to quarrel and actually to come to open hostilities . ( Hear , hear . ) I see recently there has been a small matter which got up a little irritation in America and here , arising chiefly , I suppose , out of some mistake . Well , now , let every Englishman and every American take this course ; the moment any little matter of this kind arises , do not immediately see how many ships can be sent to that station , or how many troops marched to this point , but left us rather turn our minds to the point—can this question be settled without having recourse to that worst of all settlements , that which is brought about by force of arms ? ( Loud applause . ) I believe there has beenno ambassador from that country to England in our

      , time I have no recollection of one—that has not been anxious to cultivate the most friendly relations with our Government and our people ; and if Mr . Ingersoll will bear in mind what he has seen in the papers—how when Mr . Everett was here , how when Mr . Bancroft was here , _ how when Mr . Abbott Lawrence was here , and now he is experiencing the same thing in his own person — that wherever the American Minister passes to , in all the large and populous and influential towns in the United Kingdom , there he wall find the wealthiest , the best , the most educated , and the most patriotic of the population , in every one of those centres of industry , glad to rally round least with much kindness

      him , " and treat him at as as wo have endeavoured to show him to-night . ( Applause . ) If this meotino- has had the effect of convincing the Minister of the United States of that one fact , and if the record of it , when ft passes to the United States , should give to any friend of peace and human progress there the assurance that there arc people in England—ay , thousands and millions—whose hearts boat in unison with bis , then I think that the holding of this meeting will not have been in vain . I apologise for saying what I have said ; perhaps , under the circumstances , I could say no less . I thank you for the kindness with which you have received the name of my lion , friend , my colleague , and myself . ( Loud

      cheers . ) After some further speaking , the whole , ended most appropriately with the toast ,, " The Health of the Ladies of the Old and Now World . " We are glad to record , in connexion with this subject , the words used by Mr . Thackeray , at the close of one of his New York leciuivs . lit ; is an Englishman who does honour to his country in the United States : " In England , it was my custom , after the delivery of these lectirres , to point such a moral as Heemcd to belit the country 1 lived in , and to protest against an outcry which some brother authors of mine mont imprudently and

      unjustly raise ; when they say that our profession is neglected Riul ' itH professors held in light esteem . Speaking "i 'bin country , 1 would say that , such a comp laint , could not only not be ' advanced , but ' could not even he understood here , when ; your men of letters fake their manly share , m public life- whence Kverett , goes as Minister to Washington , and Irving and Bancroft to represent the Republic in Ihe old country . And if to English authors the Knglish public is , a . s I ' believe , kind and just in the main , can any »< uh say will any who visit your country not proudly and gratefull V own , with what a cordial and generous greeting you receive us ? I look round on this great company ; Ulnnh . of my ( . mllant young patrons of the Mercantile Library Association , as ' wboso servant , I appear before you ; and

      of the kind hands stretched out to welcome me by men famous in letters , and honoured in our country as in their own and I thank you ami them for u most kindly greeting and a most generous hospitality . At home and amongst hi . s own people , it , scarce becomes an K ' nghrih writer to speak of himself ; bis public estimation must depend oa his works ; his private esteem on his character and Ins hie But here , among friend . s newly found , 1 ask cave to Hay , | iat , I am thankful ; and I think with a graio ul heart o those I have left behind me at home , who will he proud ol , ! , „ welcome you hold out , to me , and will boneliL , p <> uh <> Uo . l , when my days of work are over , by the k . ndnesu which you show to their lather .

      Let , " our A merican friends take their views of Knglish opinion from men like Mr . Thackeray , rather than from Uu ) jounmlrt quoted by Mr . Cukh .

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      January 15 , 1853 . ] THE LEADER . ^ 3 ^

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      AMERICAN REPLY TO THE STAFFORDHOUSE MEMORIAL . The following " Affectionate and Christian Address of many Thousands of the Women of the United States of America to their Sisters , the Women of England , " is published in the semi-weekly Courier and Neio YorJc Enquirer : — " A common origin , a common faith , and , we sincerely believe , a common cause , urge us at the present moment to address you on the subject ol enormous social evils which still prevail so extensively , and , even under kindly disposed rulers , with such frightful results , in every part of your country .

      " We approach you to-day , not with fiction , but with fact—not fact as exaggerated , perverted , and discoloured by the novelist ' s imagination , but fact as presented in its naked simplicity by parliamentary documents , or other statistical writings , which arc regarded in your land as of standard authority . It will bo impossible for us to bring now to your consideration the immense aggregate of evils which are visited upon the poor and helpless by your husbands and brothers through the vast extent of your Sovereign ' s dominions . We must forbear to speak of the flagitious and bloody modes by which those dominions have been extended and are now extending in Southern Africa , in Southern Asia , and through the Southern Seas !

      We can say nothing of the iniquitous war your nation waged upon the . Chinese , or of the untold miseries caused by the forced imposition of the opium traffic upon that people ; not even for poor Ireland can we invoke your sympathies now—that land which , through British misrule , has decreased in population 20 per cent ; within the last year , and of which one of your own admired writers—the llev . Sydney Smith—wrote these words , as awful as they are true— ' So great and so long has been the misgovernment of that country , that we verily believe the empire would be much stronger if everything were open sea between England and the Atlantic , and if skates and codfish swam over the fair land of Ulster . ' Sisters , we suppress

      our indignation , and touch upon none of these things now . It is upon evils on your own soil , in your own communities—evils . among which you daily live and move , and with which you have personally to do , that we now address you . We wish to speak to you of the ignorant , and the poverty-stricken , and the degraded population of your own land , and we shall do it with faithfulness , yet with kindness . " Sisters , your land is filled with slaves—slaves to ignorance , slaves to penury , and slaves to vice . The terrible truth has been told you by one of the most learned and respected authors , Joseph Kay , of Trinity College , Cambridge , at the close of his great work on national education , which is or ought to bo familiar to you all , that in

      England , ' where the aristocracy is richer and more powerful than that of any other country in the world , the poor are more oppressed , more pauperized , more numerous in comparison to the other classes , more irreligious , and very much worse educated than the poor of any other European nation , solely excepting uncivilized llussia and Turkey , enslaved Italy , misgoverned Portugal , and revolutionized . Spain . ' The first and greatest of all popular needs in every free Christian country is the need of instruction ; and yet your country has no system of public education that ' is worthy of tin ; name . The entire amount of your annual parliamentary appropriations for the education of your people is less by thousands of pounds than the uniiuul public expenditures made for Ibis purpose by the city of New York alone . One person out . of every eight in your

      population is a pauper , and the average poor-rates ol England for the last ten years have been (! , ()()() , <><)()/ . ; and yet to provide public education , nnd thus in a great measure remedy the very neglect which has cursed you with this grievous and yoarly-iiiereastng burden , your national Legislature has " expended in six years only (> 0 < ) , 000 / . Onethird of the population of Ihe Slate of New York , according to our census tables just published , are regularly receiving education in our public schools ; according to your parliamenlary returns , only one-eleventh of your population up ! enjoying a similar advantage . Sisters , is that a Christian state of society which , for some ; millions of'your people , renders the development and cultivation of " all those faculties which distinguish man from the brute little belter than a physical impossibility ?

      " You , whom we are addressing , live in all parts of I ' . nglanil , but everywhere ; in the metropolis , in the manufacturing towns , and in Hit ' country , you see about you th <; most , pitiable destitution and degradation . In London there are , we understand , more than 1 , 000 , 000 of immortal beings who are never seen in the house ol dio < i , and practically think the thoughts and live ( lie lives of absolute heat liens . The condition of a , large portion of the labouring population of that vast , city may be judged from ( ho fact , that of its l ! O , 0 OO journeymen tailors , 11 , 000 can hardy earn a . miserable subsistence by working II hours a day , Sunday included ; and that it contains ; t ; f , OO ( > needled lwork

      women , who earn on an average onlyl ' .. a day > y - ing II . hours . There are 00 , 000 people in London who obtain their living in the . streets ; nnd Henry May hew , an authority whom vou will not venture lo . piculioa , sayrt of Idem 'When t . lie religious , moral , and intellectual degradation of the majority of Uicmc f > 0 , 000 people i . s impressed upon us , it becomes positively appalling to contemplate the vast amount of vice , ignorance , and want existing in the very heart of our land . ' There are : IO , ( MK ) eosferinongers ; of these he says ' Only one-tenth at , the outside one-tenMi of tint couples living together and carrying on their conl . orniongoringlradciii . ro married ; ' that ' not , three in a hundred ol I hem had ever been in ( he

      interior of a church or any place ol worship , or knew what , wuh meant by Christianity , and only one , in fen of them is ablo to read . ' In your inanufacl . uring towns the cuno in no better . In ( Glasgow there are ( 10 , ( K )() women engaged in iiiolorics or needle-work whono average earnings do not ox . c ' ood 7 n . or da . a week . L > r . JL ' uturHon , whom you know

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 15, 1853, page 53, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1969/page/5/