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after long debates , acknowledged that this tariff was not a legal basis for their sales ; drew up a new law , corrected and re-corrected it , and finally Bent it up to the Minister of the Interior . This tooh place at the time of the Congress of Verona . Council of State , Minister , Emperor , not a soul has ever breathed a word of it since . This precious history is related to us by Nicholas Turgenieff . The author was then Secretary of State , and took part in drawing up the project of law in
question . He terminates the recital by an anecdote profoundly sad in its significance . The President of the Council , Count Katshubey , a man of that profoundly cynical humour w hich experience often brings with the loss of illusions , approaching M . Turgenieff after the sitting , said to him with a smile , half of bitterness , half of raillery : —" Only imagine , the Emperor is persuaded that for the last twenty years men have been no longer sold in retail . " This anecdote makes one ' s blood boil .
The Emperor Nicholas introduced some restrictions to this sale of men . But he , too , unhappily did more harm in trying to do some good . Such is the result of half-measures and of arbitrary acts . The law in forbidding the noble who has no land to buy serfs , implicitly recognises the right of buy ing serfs in the noble who does possess land . This law was a mistake ; it gave a legal basis to the sale of men , and opened the door to the most monstrous abuses , by omitting to regulate in the slightest degree this abominable traffic . l
On the pretext of colonizing a piece of land , aready covered with a surplus population , one may purchase entire families of servants , of cooks , of painters , of washerwomen , of musicians . The Government , it is true , is too modest to allow the sale of serfs to be publicly announced in the journals ; matters are transacted more decently . The public advertisements will not tell you of " a coachman , " but of the services of a coachman . And besides , is not the Russian Government bound with England by a solemn treaty to combat the slave trade ? Has not the Czar , too , declared every negro free who touches the soil of his empire ? What business have the Russian serfs to be bom white like their masters 1 The existence of this class of serfs is extra-legal , abandoned without regulation to the arbitrary will of the nobles .
The caprice , the interest , of the lord alone dictates his every act ; his cruelty is tempered only by the knife or the axe of the peasant , and probably the difficulty of the situation will be thus cut through , for the nobles wait and do nothing , the Government takes measures which it fails to execute . The nobles , break their contract with the peasant , or they a llow him to purchase his redemption by paying the maximum auction price . There remain only two resources for the oppressed—if he wishes to gain his freedom , the scythe and the axe . The blood then spilt will recoil on the ruling house of Romanoff , and what torrents must flow ! The terrible example left us by Pugatcheff is warning enough .
What alwayn astonishes me is the absolute , radical incapacity of the CzarH . Alexander contemplated , Nicholas was said to be preparing , a measure of emancipation . Aftor forty years what is the result ? The absurd ukase of April 2 , 1842 . But , it will be asked , what are the means at the disposal of Government' ^ Its means' * Suffice it to say , it could if it 'would . When did the Russian Government grow ho scrupulous in the choice of its means ? Did it want for means when , in the 18 th century , it introduced . Serfdom into Little Russia , and , in tho li ) th ,
organized military colonies ? By what means did it cut up Poland into Russian provinces , and reduce the united Greek to the orthodox Russian church ? Was tho Government of St . PeterHburgh ever embarrassed ? What crimes and cruelties lias it ever flinched from in tho accomplishment of its terrorist designs Tho emancipation of tho peasants will happily not necessitate , the cruelty , nor the immorality , which was indispensable in the perpetration of those crimes by tho Government . Tho whole people will be in favour of auch a ineaHiire . All tho civilized nobles , all those in Russia who can bo called an "O / yxmUou ,, " arc bound , at the riHk of disavowing their principles , to support the Government in this .
There will remain , then , none but tho moat retrograde section—tho most tenacious of tho privilc ^ on of tho nobility . Well ! this party baa preached so vehemently tho religion of passive obedience , that the ( Jovornlneiit , for once , may demand a Mingle practical illustration of itH favourite doctrine . Bo . sidoH , what ri ^ litn do mich porHoiiH possess ? They have robbed the people by the grace of tho Tzar , ami ' the dint / race of tho ( . '/ . sir will arrest their robberies . There is no reason why the Government tihould refuse an indemnity to the actual usufrwol-iiariett of a past iniquity . Tito Government may propoHO a Hories of financial measuroH ; the greater part of tho property of tho nobles is mortgaged in the banks of the Stato : overwhelmed with debtn they cannot oven pay tho interest .
Lot tho State , instead of transforming foundling hospitals into shameful poasant markets , * enter into an arrangement with the peasants on landH for sale , and content itself with receiving annuities therefrom .
If it were in want of disposable capital for the purpose , it has but to raise a loan exclusively applicable to that purpose ; or rather , it has but to hold aloof to let the nobles create committees in the provinces ; to let who will make collections and form associations . Two guarantees only would be required of the Government ; first / that the money should not be diverted from its destination ; next , that there should be no prosecutions against persons of good will . Besides , what projects have been invented , published , and submitted to the Government since 1842 ? It has neither the courage nor the capacity to resolve to take some step . Perhaps it feels that its own hands are not pure , its heart not free from stain . At all events it does nothing .
But what is the people about ? Does not a people which submits to such a tyranny deserve it ? Yes , it deserves it , as Ireland deserved the famine , and as Italy deserves the yoke of Austria . I am so accustomed to hear that ferocious cry of vce viciis , that it no longer excites my surprise . Up , and to arms against all that suffer , unpitied , unredressed I It is not enough that the landless labourer ( proletaire ) is poor , and starving : let us crown his bitter life with a derision more bitter still . The Russian peasant is a serf : let
us reproach him with it ; let us say that he has deserved his chain ; and then turn away our eyes from his hideous sufferings . Still , before abandoning him for ever , let us thank those forgotten slaves for the wisdom which we have gained at the cost of cruel hunger to some— -the fierce sweat of many—the brutal degradation of all ; let us who are the double blossom of this glorious civilization , be grateful , whose smiling gardens are watered with the blood and tears of the poor .
I am ill at ease when I speak of the "People . " It is the word most twisted from its meaning , and least understood in this ' democratic ' age . The idea attached . to the word is , for the most part , vague , rhetorical , superficial . It is one moment vaunted to the skies , the next , dragged in the mire . Unhappily , the noble indignation of the heart , no less than the most exalted declamation , fails to express an exact and true notion of what is meant by the "People "—* that large foundation of granite , cemented by immemorial traditions : —that vast ground floor ( rez-de-ckaussee ) , upon which is scaffolded the paltry baroque of our politicalinstitutions . To the question , to what does the Russian people look 1 I answer—the commencement of a social
revolution in Europe , and that , unconsciously , by the force of their position , and by instinct . Already , thanks to the socialistic movement , the question of emancipation has made immense progress . Government , nobles , people , no longer believe in the possible emancipation of the commune—that is , of the peasant , without the land . And still , regarded from the point of view of an absolute and imprescriptible right of possession , there is no visible solution of the problem . An emancipation , based on that which Alexander sanctioned for the serfs of the Baltic provinces , would , we do not hesitate to say , be one of those errors which destroy a nation . The question , now so simple , would be hopelessly entangled . The result would be a proletariat
of twenty millions of men , in a country already so ill governed , that the free peasant and the petit bourgeoisie find no shelter against tho vexations of an arbitrary police—where , in a word , such a thing" personal security does not exist . The lords would coalesce , the Government support tho coalition ! Tho communal element , the grand element of Sclavonic life , would be utterly destroyed { frappk au cceur )—the commune would be broken up . We uhould witness tho ruin of the only blessing which tho Russian peasant ban preserved—the base , the keystone , without which RxiH . sia would crumble into decay—without which that monstrous Panautocracy , which extends from Torneo to tho Amur , would ceaso to exist .
1 know that there are poisons ho rationally disposed that they would abandon a positive and certain pledge for tho germ of a possible expectation . Thoy would rejoico in tho formation of a proletariat , because the y woidd see in it tho source of revolutionary expansion ; but is ovary proletaire . necessarily a revolutionist t Amoxandius Hekzkn . ( To ha continued !)
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* Tho mortgage bunks have their room lor nnUm by auction of the Miipnouriul lands in the Orphnn and h ound-Jing Hospitals , which aro supported by them .
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IGNORANCE . Tjih groat organ of enlightened nclfiohnoflH talka about the ignorance of tho working men , and couplet ) it , with hesitation to ox tend the f ' rancluNe . . 'Hut it ignorance in | , o lio a rofiHou for diMf ' mnchiHoiTiont , we should npply I ho rule to other classes . Surely , the middle olaHH , which played such strange pranks during tho railway mania , onglit to Uavo its qiialilic . at . innH for tho fmnrluHo Hi ' rntini / ed . If a niiiu could see no likelier or honestcr road to fortiino than by a railway leading nowliithor , was ho litled to chooso a Member ? Among what clanNes was tublo-moving provident , if not ; ihohI ; especially in tho mlonti ' /¦ a proof of tluiir education ! If ' a man cannot discern wlmt moves a table , how nbull he judge vrhat . moves partici ) and states ?
Hut we may extend this dmrgo of ignorance to tho toiiehei-H . What insight have they into tho things they write of numt . glibly V One m ' philoHophor wi-itoH about an elnutiio / fu / , /" . —J < , j H | , | 10 0 | , | , ( ml to talk of " AuHtmlia " an if it wore one colony , almost one village --mid daily luivo we coiiiinutiieatioiiH on foreign afl ' airH whidi wo can only compare ( o om- ,, id friend Zodkiol , whom ) " voice of tho Htarn" lor 186-4 roads uncommonly liko leading ortidoa forlfl 53 . Take tho following
>" The transits and other tokens are likely to trouble the French Emperor just now ; either a grievous loss in . his family , or some attempt against Ms people , which though he may gain the day , brings , much bloodshed . The 'Emperor of Austria suffers near this time ; tumults arise in bis dominions ; and he is haunted by the fear of bis people's hate . Turkey still very unsettled ; intrigue and poison at work in the Divan ; disease ravaging the provinces of the empire . The middle of the month will be remarkable for some violent deeds in Paris , where fi res abound and imeutes take place , accompanied by much bloodshed . In England there are some changes taking place in the governing powers , who , however , seem , to reap some honours
and advantages just now . The revenue flourishes ; but the people in Ireland are grumbling and discontented with their share of the Income-tax , &c . The wily Russian Czar is successfully planning his schemes of ambition ; he is peaceful in his professions just now , but he succeeds ere long in some great political coup , and will outwit both Trance and England , and spread bis skirts towards the east , most prosperously . Meantime all goes quietly on in England as to foreign politics , and her Ministers , as aforetime , will be overreached by the artful Russian and his
myrmidons in Greece , where , though all be peaceful now , a storm is brewing for -King Otho . It will burst about the month of July next , and then will be seen the value of Uussian protestations of peaceful intentions , &c . " If Zadkiel would only abstain fiom prophesying that in STovember , 1854 , the Queen of Spain will have a male leir , he might rival any editor ; for is it more difficult to penetrate the veil of the future , than the veil of secret diplomacy ? Yet are our oracles so content with their ignorance , that they raise no demand for the removal iof that wanton veil !
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[ IX THIS DEPARTMENT , AS AI . Ii OPI 3 STIONS , HOWEVER BXTBEJIB , ABE ALLOWED Alf EXPEESSIOK , THE EDITOB M 3 CJBSSi . BII .-r HOLDS HIMSELF BESPOtfSIBI-E FOE ITOirE . J
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FREE SPEECH IN COYENTRY . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) Sib , — -The nautical Emperors on theClyde andtheTamar , victorious over pseudo- Sabbath sanctity , may deserve celebration—but inland successes , in the direction of intellectual fair play , are perhaps no less worthy of a brief chronicle . A short time ago the good city of Coventry , eomewhat given to quietness and ' mediocrity , was needlessly startled by a lecture delivered in St . Mary ' s Ha . ll on some theological topic , by Mr . Robert Cooper . The land of Peeping Tom , albeit well used to spiritual expositions , rebelled at the mooting of the counter side . The clergy of the Church of England did themselves the discredit of petitioning the Town Council to close the said Hall against all unorthodox lecturers . This disposition to refuse fair play to opponents nowhere appears save in Theology . The Church of England clergy , would to a man shrink from tho infamy of drawing tho bullets of an adversary in ft duel , but in the combat of Theology they condescend to take this advantage of their opponents—speaking to satiety themselves , but refusing their antagonists equal opportunity—and this baseness of spirit passes mostly unxeprobated . But the people of Coventry , to their honour be it saidhave set their faces against this
con-, duct . A public meeting waB called in St . Mary ' s Hall , when a memorial was adopted to the worthy corporation , requiring of the Mayor an equal exercise of hid prerogative , in letting the Hall for lectures on secularism as well aa Christianity ; and a Requisition wafl signed by a very large number of respectable inhabitants in Coventry , who ( moaning what thoy did ) _ gavo their names and addresses , petitioning that Mr . Or . « - Holyoako should bo allowed to lecture in St . Mary s Hall . One object of the clergy in opposing it was to prevent tho Hall ' s desecration . We agree with thiH Hontiment , but Wo hold , as the citizenn hold , that
impartiality of privilege in not a desecration . True UnitariariH are somewhat apathetic . Kivat among rationalist ChriHtiana , they yet suffer a low sectarianiHni to warp tho houIm of the people—yet ' \ 1 CI ) Thought , Free Speech , and Fair-play are under nnmoriHo obligation to UnitarianiHin everywhere . A " tho name of tho ChriBtian Religion it standH a barrier agaiimt bigotry in every town and city . Too often diniiDniouthed , indeed- —hut though Hilent , it j " hnovortholoHH a oilent influence . However , it findoth tongue sometimes . What young man has forgotten the eloquent denunciation the Rev . George IlarriH poured on tho Ruthconniu ; niRHHacro ?
Whim tho Si , Mary ' n Hall meeting was proceeding in Coventry , an auditor Htopped upon tho platform »>» volunteered what Carlylo would call " nuu » ii »«» advocacy of fair play for all opinion * - it wnH the Miov . John ( j onion , Unitarian minuter I No voice ho l ) 0 WJr fill and eloquent an Iuh doefl Coventry hold . enthuHiaHinofthem (! etinghonouredtlu > l ) raveiyun dgonroHifcy of the preaohor—aa an Euglitih audience «" ' v will where they drover Hueh qualities . The 1 () V » n " orator did not plead in the haoknoyod Iftuguaire ot w univorwal formula fur " civil and rUliniom liberty —
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There is no learned man but will confess he hath , much profited by reading controversies , hia senses awakened , and his judgment sharpened- If , then , it be profitable for him to re .-id . "why should it Dot , at least , be tolerable for his adversary to write—Milton .
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1070 THE LEADER . " [ LSAT ymBA * ,. - ¦
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 5, 1853, page 1070, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2011/page/14/
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