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(!t>pra CmrariL
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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(!T≫Pra Cmraril
(! t > pra CmrariL
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PROPERTY TAX . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) Silt , —I hope yet to see the Leader first in at the death of the income-tax principle . Most of our jonrnals are on a wrong track on this subject . None of our public writers , for the last fifty years , seem to have mastered the subject of taxation . Strong , perhaps the strongest , interests in the country are against the adoption of fair measures for raising the taxes . If Free-trade , however , has one meaning of undoubted , unquestioned , aud unquestionable fairness , it is that all interests should get equal favour at the hands of Government , that no one should be taxed more than another , and that capital invested in land or Government stock should not have a less per centage taken from it in the shape of taxes , than capital invested in commerce or manufactures . The yearly rate of profits should have nothing to do with the question , except , perhaps , in determining the value of the good-will of a business ; and there , even , it is hardly a fair test , and
other means of iudtriner aro Tmietiefible . and ensilv other means of judging are practicable , and easily available . The effect of a property-tax is almost immediate in reducing incomes not derived from property , and it is thus only that such incomes are legitimately taxed . Employers have it in their power to pay those whom they employ smaller wages , or not to raise them so soon as they otherwise would . This is leaving the incometax in the hands of those who can best adjust it . With regard to unproductive capital , it is not generally a subject for much commiseration . The nobleman ' s parish of a park is not the grievance ; i philanthropist will feel most pity for . But in some cases there might be appeal , and if property were so sunk a . s to 1 ) 6 lost , it would , of course , cease to pay tax .
What can have so long prevented property from being a subject for a peace tax , one can hardly imagine , unless it is the strength of its holders . Now that the question is fairly opened , we may expect to see it not shut up again , without some explanation . If Mr . Gladstone won't do it , somebody else will . Your obedient servant , CoivrnrRROi :.
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SCOTCH S A I * B A T OLA T IIY . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) Edinburgh , 19 U » . Jan . 1 H 5 X Sih , —I have for some time been in hopes of seeing the " Sabbath" question taken up in tlio Leader on a broader basis than that adopted by your la to correspondents " A . " and " . J . " No doubt ( bo truthfulness of " A . ' s" picture of the dreariness and unhappy cou-Hequonces of the Scotch Sabbath arc undeniable , and his demolition of " . T . 'h" self-sufficient fallacies \ h complete . Hut what in ii , that " A . " hopes for from his amiable remonstrance ? To induce a rational application of ft false and irrational theological dogma ? Truly , he is preaching to the deaf adder . lOvcn within these Tow days , advertisements and handbills have been extensively issued by an association of the Presbyterian preachers of this city , for the purpose of getting 1 up a great demonstration against the Sunday-opening of the Crystal Palace . This hopeful crusade against the liberty of conscience of their fellow-. subjccfs in London will of course be hotly supported by that enlightened claBBof Scotsmen on whom " . I . " lavishes his encoinhnnH , and whom lie fondly denominates " the orfium of the country . " They are ( as I am aware ) in the hnbit of considering theinselvoH such , and do Hot scruple , upon occasion , to indicate plainly their armmAouHiuM * of their exalted position . Do they not Hold the houihI »> l" s \ pianoforte on Sunday to be : i niii as aiWiorrcnt to the Itoimlieoiit Spirit of the Universe as is tho bellowed improcatumof tho Sabbftth-mndo drunkard ?
Every beautiful and civilizing art—the cultivation of every soul-refining faculty with which God has blessed mankind , is condemned and discountenanced as " sinful " by these " creamy gentlemen . Utterly ignorant of most of the details of their own creed , and believing only in a " non-natural sense" what they do know of it , their active religion consists mainly in pharisaically cutnberingthemselves about their neighbours' "Sabbath " observance , and joining in anti-popery demonstrations at the call of the preachers whose ministrations they attend . Their mode of working out their own salvation is by constant and unscrupulous aggression on the Christian liberty of their more numerous fellow-subjects who decline to swallow their nostrums .
The only way to rescue the rational portion of the public from the machinations of oiir modern Pharisees , and to preserve to the working man the liberty of employing his day of rest in the healthful recreation of his body , and the improvement of his mind , is to lay the uxe to the root of the " Sabbath" dogma itself , by enlightening the public respecting the ground on which the " Sabbath" delusion rests . How this could best be effected , it is not easy to say . Few people are inclined of themselves to investigate the truth of any theological dogma to which they have been accustomed ; still fewer have sufficient logical training to detect a fallacy , however mischievous , on such subjects , or nerve to kick it at once out of their minds , as
they would a detected impostor out of their doors . The errors of any long-familiar delusion must be laid broad and bare , and the exposition reiterated and reinforced , before the intellects of those who have been crammed with " catechism" by way of education are able to realize and acknowledge them ; unless , indeed , some immediate and temporal interest quicken their apprehension . Good service in this respect was done by various writers during the Post-office closing
struggle ; and any one desirous of really understanding the " Sabbath" question will find it amply treated of in tvro separate works , entitled The Sabbath and The Mosaic Sabbath , by a Layman , published by Chapman and Hall , and of which a new edition was recently advertised . For such as have neither means to procure nor leisure to read those treatises , a spirited summary of the question , published in Edinburgh , under the title of The Whole Doctrine of the Sabbath , by J . W . may suffice . *
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WHAT IS Till ] TRUE POLICY OF THE "IRISH" PARTY ? ( To the Editor of the . Loader . ) Sin , —There are , generally speaking , two classes of individuals to be found among the advocates of any particular measure , the practicable and the impracticable . The first seek by lucid arguments and temperate statements to convince and conciliate their opponents , embracing every opportunity of obtaining an instalment of their demands ; the second , by abuse and vituperation , generally contrive to make personal enemies of their opponents , and thus place the realization of the object they have in view farther off than before .
This appears to he the case with the Irish party . The greater part of these gentlemen heap denunciation and malediction on the heads of their adversaries ; but what are they gaining by it P Nothing . Yes , there is one thing they do gain , they confirm opponents in opposition , and disgust the public mind instead of enlisting it on their Hide . A political crisis arrives . Certain of the more able and prominent members of the party have situations of great trust and responsibility ollered them by the head of the new government ; they , faking this to be a fair opportunity of obtaining a good instalment of their elaiins , accept office * . What is the result ? The " largo
hearted . " men raise a tremendous howl against these gentlemen , accuse them of selling themselves to the government ; of bartering their country ' s cause for place and its emoluments , and denounce them as traitors to their religion and their principles . Now , sir , let them ponder : two or three things . The Conservatives claim about 300 members of the House of Commons ; the Irish party cannot reckon on more than fifty or sixty ; the remainder , consisting of Peelites and Liberals of various shades , which , by a fab ? measure of Parliamentary reform , may all be rallied round the government . Now , if it be true , as is reported , and I am inclined to think , not without foundation , that some thirty or forty of those who have hitherto been supporters of Lord Derby are prepared to transfer their allegiance to Lord Aberdeen , it will obviously render the government independent of the Irish , party altogether , and the result may be that , instead of getting a good instalment of justice , they will get nothing . I would earnestly recommend these gentlemen to give a careful perusal to your excellent letters to anti-slavery agitators , as conveying a most wholesome moral , especially suited to them at the present time . Yours , &c . An English Opebatite WHO WISHES WEIX TO lEEIiAND . Manchester , Jan . 10 , 1853 .
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There is no learned man but will confess he hath much profited by reading controversies , his senses awakened . and nis judgment sharpened . If , then , it be profitable for him to read , why should it not , at least , be tolerable for his adversary to write . —Miiton .
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[ iK THIS DEPARTMENT , AS ALL OPINIONS , HOWETBE EXTREME ABE ALLOWED AN EXPBESSION , THE EDITOB NECESSARILY HOLDS HIMSE 1 P RESPONSIBLE FOB NONE . ]
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I am no enemy , but a sincere friend , to the weekly daAof rest . I would even gladly see it changed , not to every tenth day , as Luther and Calvin actually meditated doing , but to every fourth day , instead of every seventh . But I would ( as St . Paul enjoins ) allow no man to judgo another in respect of it . I would leavo every man equally freo to determine for himself whether he should spend it in listening to Presbyterian preachment , or dedicate it to religious service , or to the recreation of his health , or the cultivation of tho faculties his Maker has endowed him with , or in any other way that might be most congenial to his feelings and wants . There would lie little drunkenness were this freo choice allowed . I am , &c , Ai , iq , uis .
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* In a paflNfitfO whioh wo have omitted from this letter , our correspondent hu ^ ,. « m Oljr treatment of thin subject in a Morion of articles . IIo is probably not nwaru thut ' tho question lias been discussed in the . Loader with soino iriinutonoHfl . "Wo refor him to an article that appeared in our Portfolio , under the title of " A Plea for Sunday Reform , " in Hojitomher , IR&I , and to urtielos on the snbjoet of the opening of ( lie Crystal P ,, | fteo on the / Sabbath , which appourod in tlio JLpaUvr during the milmim of tho past your . "
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MIRACLES : SACRED AND PROFANE . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) Sie , —I have been , creditably , allowed insertion in the Beasoner , which goes farther than you would be disposed to do ; therefore I am emboldened to ask of you insertion for some brief observations . You compare ( p . 66 , 67 ) the " Miracles" of Rose Tmnider with those of the Old and New Testaments . In remarking on which I beg you to believe that I speak of " Christianity" in the widest possible sense , binding myself by no human creed . Two things plainly arrange themselves for consideration ; and I think that I have put the right first in this instance— " Motive" and " Fact . " 1 st . Motive . Rose Tamisier ' s operations were to support an established priesthood , which we Protestants consider an erring and corrupt one , and one which proves itself to need such aids ; or how happens it that English churchmen and dissenters do not essay similar ones ? What interested motive had tho first preachers of Christianity ? Granting that every priesthood or ministry were as legitimate fruit , could they tell that their descendants would feast on the " fleshpots of Egypt ? " If , sir , you were a low-principled person , would you work fictitious miracles , and give up your life in proof of consistency , in order that your children , or those of your associates , might obtain lucrative situations P The usual amour 2 P ° f humanity , when there is not the chivalry of noblo conscience—seems opposed to this . 2 nd . Fact . Rose Tamisier did work a " miracle "i . e ., a " wonderful" thing , beyond ordinary experience , which is the primary meaning of the word . She caused exudation of blood from a painting , where could havo been no blood but for some extraneous contrivance of her own . And the solution of her " miracle" has been found out in medico-natural science . Apply tho saino solution to the miracles of the New Testament . Could any scientific trick , if all modern appliances had been at band , havo raised the dead , restored the long-palsied or withered limb , or opened the long-closed eye ?—or , more wonderful still , created food in a desert P Granting that tho thing was done , as in the case of Itosp Tawitiier—how wan it done ? I am , sir , your obedient servant , . 1 . 1 ) . Paiiuy , M . A ., St . Peter ' s College , Cambridge . London , Jim . 18 , 18 M .
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JSOT 1 CKH TO COJtKKBl'ONDKNTS . Wn . r . iAM Jordan . —The hm of mourn * in known ; there nro 7 iiiil <\ Hnn < l lointilcH eoiinequontly inaHoulinoand feminine genders . I > indley Murray ' s abortion Mint , " when an animal ' M hox in nob obvioiiH or known it , is neuter , " in simply absurd , in iiiiiwor to tlio <| Hnnlion , What is tho gender ot moiiHO r olio may roply masculine and feminine ; a he moiine in inaminlino , and a hIio rnoilHO feminine : a mouse ( hut , in neither one nor ( . he other ( loot , not exint . . J . M . T . ' h letter in excluded only for want , of Hpiieo , bill , wo may remind him that , " HiHt . tir Ryder" him probably been made very unhappy by what , Iihh ooeu ' rrcd at , the Vale of Arnon , and that-, though thn result ** of her negligence niiiy vwy fairly point , a moral , mid be a warning to others , it would certainly havo been wotmi than inhuman to have visited a lady with any puniHbiiienl , for an act , which , though utterly unintentional , will , we four , bo to her a never-failing Houreo of regret . Mr . IleimeHHy ' H confused letter leaven the matter in disputo preeimily where it Htood . We aro fully aware , and me glad to Hud O . L . and his friondn equally ho , of the diHcroimncicH in tho foreign corroMpoixlonco of the two jourmilM lie alludes to . Wo hIioiiM inueli regret , for tho worth ol our correHpondenco , if thewo < liHerepaneicn worn Ichh dceidod ; and we he ^ to draw the attention of () . I ,, to the want of harmony between tho foreign corrcHpoudonoo , and tho tone mid temper of the loading urtieles of the eminent , daily journal ho eilcH . Thin diNiigrooineut coiiHistH in ( he fuel , of the former being a mere abridgment of tho llonnpartiMt prints , and Mio latter , no doubt , bu « e < l on moro rdiftbjp mid eonHtlentiai Milui'iUfitioii ,
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S 8 THE LEADER . [ 9 AEtrtoAir , _
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 22, 1853, page 88, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1970/page/16/
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