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to the misunderstanding by not being sufficiently explicit in their demands upon each other . Let each say exactly ¦ what he means , and common sense will not find much difficulty in arbitrating . M eanwhile , the men are quite right not to yield blindly .
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THE GOVERNMENT AND THE -WOBKINa-MAN ' s PAPER . " A Warning to Periodical Dealers . Mb . J . Humfkeys Parky , presented a remarkable defence of Mr . E . Truelove , in the Bow-street trial . We are obliged to present but the merest abridgment of it ; but for argumentative and legal ability , it would have commanded distinction at the highest tribunal . The Government have at last shown the front of battle , and however the verdict may go , the public will be the gainers . We trust that on Thursday evening the Working Class will attend at the National Hall and take this question into their own hands . The people will not deserve a free press , unless they volunteer to defend it when placed in new jeopardy by an irresponsible office at Somerset House .
The Society for the Abolition of the Newspaper Stamp have thought it their duty to warn Periodical Dealers that there is an unrepealed statute in this country by which the Government could ruin the dealers in cheap periodicals any day they felt so disposed . Such a disposition appears now to exist , and those persons who doubt that such is the case , have only to watch the proceedings at the Bow-streef OfficeT" WithouFany " warning to either the proprietor , publisher , or printer , an official of the Stamp-office has laid an information against Mr . Truelove , of 240 , Strand , for selling the Potteries Free Press , and , before the . Police Magistrate , presses for the infliction of 201 . penalty for " wilfully and knowingly" selling a copy of that periodical , " not being printed on paper duly stamped . " A large portion of the contents of every periodical dealer ' s stock consists of papers equally liable under the Stamp Act , but many of which have been published and sold without molestation for many years . Counsel ' opinion has been obtained that many of the following well-selling periodicals are newspapers within the meaning of the statute : —Athenaeum , Builder , Critic , Lamp , Lancet , Legal Observer , Literary Gazette , Lone Star , Mechanics ' Magazine , Medical Times , and , Gazette , Musical World , National Temperance Chronicle , Notes and Queries , Mat ing Telegraph , Mating Times , Measoner , True Uritcn , Vegetarian Messenger , &c , &c . What dealer is safe when the Government may levy 201 . fines for selling , without giving any warning to the proprietors or printers that the Stamp-offico considers such newspapers should be " printed on paper duly stamped . " The mode adopted by Government in thus invidiously aolocting sellers Avho have no means of knowing what tho Stamp-offico considor subject to be printed on stamped paper , arises from their not daring to face a jury of Englishmen in the superior courts , whore tho printer or proprietor must be prosecuted . It behoves every man ongaged in selling periodicals to be on the alert—the law is no longer to sleep—201 . may bo levied without warning upon hundreds to whom the payment of that sum would bo complete ruin . All should petition parliament for tho repeal of tho Stamp Act ; and all " who liavo votes should writo to their representatives to urge the only safe remedy for this injustice . In tho mean time , every dealer should try and obtain from tho Stamp-offico , some distinct definition of what ( lint office considers nowa , in order that they may regulate their business , and not subject themselves to the danger of being sent to prison for Belling goods which they havo duly paid for , and which are published by thoso who are not oven informed that what they print is considered illegal .
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A UKCOGN 1 TION OF THI 3 HICCUI . AK ADVOCACY . A ruiiiiic committee has determined to obtain and prosonj , some recognition of long and useful advocacy of aflirmativo and pructical opinion by Mr . G . . T . Jlolyouko . Tho mothod proposed will enable not only those who range thomtiolvcH undor tho banner of Mr . Holyoako'n " Soculariuts , " but also others who , however widely diHscnting from Iuh peculiar tenets , hold that the abortion of honenl speculative convictionu uhould involve no Hoeial < lisqunliftcation , to join in tho tributo . It is not , wo havo a right to nay , intended by . Mum < leinonntration to asnert
that tho private or particular opinions of Mr . llolyoako are right or wrong , but to reeogni . so the broad principle which that / j ^ ntlonian ' H career of doctrine , and of practice , ilhiKf . nitcH , in hi « own pornon ; namely , tho unshackled ri / jht to think , and the freedom to utter , all honest convictions , untrammelled by logal diNqualideation , or conventional oHtnuuHin . Tim committco will , no doubt , havo tho Mupport of all who value the courageoiiM ardour of conviction , uiul Mto cnliu energy of por . siHtonoo Mr . Jl ' olyoako has maiiifeHtcd in his public endeavours . Tho ] iro-1 >() HO < 1 presentation , mentioned in an advertiHoniont in our iiolwuma thin week , will be u protoat aimin » t the continuance
of those deformities in law , and those hypocricies in public opinion , which assume that conscientious dissent in matters of religion is incompatible with good citizenship , and personal integrity . It may also be instrumental in teaching certain ministers who have recently entered the arena of public discussion , that acrimonious imputations will no longer be tolerated ,, and that , for the future , questions of religion , like all other questions , must he met and sustained by argument with reverence , and not by aspersion without charity . Some provincial districts Lave already indicated their desire to join in this significant testimony . The character of what will be done will be different from the
" Testimonial movements , " which have been so often heard of . No personal eulogy is intended . The highest compliment to any public man is a general public admission of some usefulness in his long-unrequited work . Whoever originates , or recasts and develops an advocacy , must do it at his own cost of labour , suffering , and loss , for many weary years . On this account , all who think it useful that such an exponent should be enabled to work with facilities and personal competence , may , on this occasion , unite to make up for any past losses , and to ensure future exertions .
All this is legitimate , useful , and impersonal ; and here is the wise and independent ground on which these proceedings are based . Several committees , we are informed , had arisen spontaneously , in various districts in London , to carry out some such object , and on their mutual intention being ascertained , a collective Committee has been formed , who have solicited Mr . James Watson , the publisher , of Queen ' s Head-passage , Paternoster-row , to act as Treasurer a guarantee no less of the impersonal and independent motive , than of the integrity of purpose that will preside over every act throughout this important and influential demonstration .
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[_ IN THIS DEPARTMENT , AS ALL OPINIONS , HOWEVER EXTREME ABU ALtOWED AN EXPRESSION , THE EDITOtt NECESSAIULX HOLDS HIMSEIiF RESPONSIBLE FOR NONE . ] There is no learned man but will confess he hath much profited by reading controversies , his senses awakened , and ms judgment sharpened . If , then , it bo profitable for him to road , why should it not , at least , be tolerable for his adversary to write . —Milton .
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SUNDAY REFORM . { To the Editor of the Leader . ) Sin , —Tho opponents of tho opening of tho Crystal Palace on Sundays are very busy indeed holding meetings , writing tracts , and getting up petitions . The whole of the clerical artillery is at work to silence the heathenism , which dares to lift its head in a parliament not yet unchristianised . At these meetings the arguments which are used are about up to the level of Old
Almswomeii and Sunday-school-boy capacity ; but there is one which appears to bo quite a pet among the clergy , who use it on every occasion . I have already seen it in two tracts , the reports of Hoveral speeches * , and I think in all the Christian newspapers . In . addition to this it ih going tho round of Sunday-school teaching , and is getting a largo private circulation . I send it you an it appeared in a letter published in the Christian Times , of the 4 th instant : —
" Go to uncient Athena , and pay a visit to imperial Itomo . In the days of their glory and prosperity , what cities could over boutit of such philosophers ami men of renown , such a perfection of arts , sciences , and refinement ; of such temples , such wculpturo , Much nobln monuments , such gardens and palaces , « uoh theatres and proinormdoH—nil thrown open , inviting their admirers to study and to pleasure P Hut did their froquonterfi learn to fear the God of lloavei ^
and attain to life and immortality P No . ' Tho world by wisdom knew not God ; ' and when an Apostle visited these cit / ics , it was to find that their best , teachers and philosophers woivi blind idolaters , and worn ' in all things too superstitious . ' To expect other re / mlts than theno from Sabbath visits to tho Hydenham Exhibition may bo in accordance with heathenism and infidelity , but would surely ho tho greatest folly in thoso who profess Christianity . "
'J his appear * so absurd as hardly to require an answer , but , I am told that it , lias imposed on many religiously inclined people , who are brought to look upon tho opening of the Crystal 1 'iduco f \ n tho prime invention of tho
devil , and the certain forerunner of the downfall of England . A reply plainly put may induce some of them to think again . After admitting the presumption which leads some obscure sectarian to write down the best teachers and philosophers of Greece , Socrates , Plato , and Aristotle for instance , not only as " idolaters , " but as " blind idolaters , " I look into the passage for the reason . It is used for argument when it is given from the platform with a sonorous voice and a solemn air ; it sounds—at least to those who do not search for the sense of sounds—like argument , hut when we look closer into it we find it only a phantom of rhetoric . It tells us that Greece and Rome had the most beautiful temples and profound philosophers , but
that the frequenters did not " learn to fear the God of heaven . " I think we may admit that ; but what then ? Was it because they had beautiful temples and profound philosophers ? No ; the argument does not go so far as that . That is nowhere said , but it is inferred , and the inference does just as much harm to minds unaccustomed to reason , as the assertion would . Poor old Mr . Crutch in the workhouse , who hears about the Greeks from the Reverend Mr . Cassock , and is fired with patriotic indignation at the threatened destruction of the nation , which is not what it used to he " when he was young , " teaches his grandson that it " is all along of Crystal Palaces . " Fortunately , old Crutch is too old for an iconoclast ; young Crutch is not , and the consequences may be hard enough to avoid .
The Greeks did not know the " God of heaven , " as painted in Christianity , not because they had temples , but because they had never heard of that God . But , even without the " softening influence of Christianity , " the Greeks , in consequence of the beauties by which they were surrounded , and their physical training , were far higher , intellectually , morally , and physically , than any other nation . Never , in the same space , was there concentrated so much of grace , goodness , and philanthropy . The Jews , who worshipped the true God , were a mere tribe of barbarians , when compared with the polished Greets .
And the Greeks did not fall either morally or nationally because they had beautiful temples ; they fell through internal wars and other causes , with which their magnificent buildings were not in the remotest degree connected—causes which , in destroying their greatness , destroyed at the same time their monuments and the causes of that greatness . The temples , as well as the people , fell into ruina . Let any one compare the Greek of to-day—the " Christianised" Greek , degenerate as he is—with the heathen Greeks of old , and then estimate the effect of magnificent constructions upon moral and mental elevation and physical beauty .
The fact is , that all attempts to draw a parallel between the condition of the Greeks and ours must be futile . The circumstances are so utterly unlike , that there is no room for analogy . But of this at least we may be sure , from the example the Greeks have left us > —that tho nation which has opportunities for elevated amusements will ( all other things being equal ) be far superior in health and happiness to the nation which is destitute of them .
We do not pretend that the opening of the Crystal Palace would do all that is to be desired , but we do assert that it would bo one of the steps towards improving the minds and bodies of the people . That is our immediate concern . The other requirements of our nature to which our opponents t-o often refer , ought to be safe in the well-paid hands of those to whom the duty of their satisfaction is entrusted . I am , Sir , yours obediently , WlIO-IAM NiiW'J'ON . 3 o , Arbour-squaro , March 17 th .
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MR . BREWIN GRANT AND THE " CHRISTIAN SPECTATOR . " ( To the Editor of tho Leader . ) Snt , —I write to correct a mis-statement in Mr . Grant ' s letter to the Leader , of Saturday last . I havo no " private pique" iig . iin . st ; Mr . Grant , nor am I conscious of ever having entertained any . I hardly need sny that if 1 had , the last form it would have taken would have been that of friendly counsel . It is greatly to bo regretted that a public Christian controversialist hhould bo so ready to impute the worst of motives to every one who differs from him . 1 am , Sir , yours , respectfully , Tiik Ejmtor ok Tin ? March 17 , 185 ( 1 . " CllllIHTlAN Sl'KOTATOK . "
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282 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
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. NOTIOKH TO CORK Kfll'ONDK NTH . fl . U . in thnnlcod for Iuh t , o 441 , 000 ixtrHiuiH in Iliulcil j , | () nol , ul Inul oil lior uhunili or oliupcl . " Upon Iliin hI . hI . o of liuil . H ho makoH Homo intonating commontH , wlii < : li , having dealt v « n-y fully wiUi tho quetttiou ouiboIvoh , wo arp conjpeJlod j for w | of Hp <* oc 0 omit .
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Leader (1850-1860), March 19, 1853, page 282, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1978/page/18/
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