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Leader (1850-1860), 7th January 1854, Edition 1 of 1, Page 17, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      cessful—erea in the Councils of the Sultan it becomes a matter of the utmost national importance , that the potent and secret influence of the only irresponsible Minister of the Crown should be neutralised by a loud and decisive expression of public opinion . The . citizens of London should set an example to the provinces in this momentous crisis of our history , and I venture to assure them that the country is

      unanimous in its condemnation of the present foreign policy of the Government . Until , however , the people are adequately represented in the British House of Commons , under a real , not a sham Reform Bill , they can have no efficient control over the management of the home or the foreign affairs of England . I have the honour to fce , Sir , Yours obediently , William Coningham .

      Untitled Article

      THE STRIKES . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ' ) Sib , —The long-continued contests in the industria l districts of the North , between masters and men , at this inclement season of the year , must be fraught with most lamentable results to the members of the latter class , and too often to their dependent families . It is true that public opinion sympathises with them , and that the public sympathy may be valued in money at a thousand pounds sterling per week . Still , however magnificent a sum this may be as a voluntary demonstration of approval , it is to be feared that

      its division among the crowd of sufferers does not produce a very cheering income to individuals . It is to be hoped that this contest , however it may end now , will have a permanently beneficial effect upon the class , and be the means of making it more prudent , more provident , more far-sighted , and educate it beyond the old idea that lias clung to it so long and so perniciously , that it " worked only to live . " The men are fighting at great disadvantage , and in all probability must give way at last ; but the trials which they , have endured , and are still enduring , xnust eventually tend to purify and elevate them for a better future .

      generally intended to assist them , though they have too often iguorantly considered it as an unfamilied , unstomachea competitor . This new machinery is invented against . them ; and it is to be hoped they will yet suffer any attacks from it with patience . They fnay have a taste of its quality before long , when they and we shall both have an opportunity of seeing how it will work . —I am , Sir , your obedient servant , . G . W .

      The masters , who still cherish the notion that men " lire only to work , " are indignant at the obstinacy of their hirelings . The disappointment they feel at their losses is lost in anger at the insubordination so well organised , and the truculent pertinacity so lonjgl maintained against their ( to them ) unquestionable superiority vhd authority . It is true that masters are th » possessors of accumulated capital , with which they enter upon their business , but large premises earning no rent , and costly machinery all standing cold and idle , cannot but tell upon the deepest of pockets . There are inflexible landlords and mortgagees and anxious tradesmen for the master to meet as well as the man , and such folk are no less disagreeable to the one side than the other .

      Whether or not it is the case that masters are pressed as quarter-day come * round , tinder present circumstances , I cannot say , but my attention lias been called to an advertisement , which might seem to indicate that they are . _ This advertisement , in last Saturday ' s Manchester Examiner and Times , contains a proposal to form an " Insurance Company , to protect Employers against Losses sustained by ' ' Strikes' amongst Workmen . Capital 500 , 000 / ., in 5000 shares of 100 / . each ; first call 10 / . a share . " It is of course estimated that large profits will be made . But from the vaguo explanation of the

      priuciples on which the business is proposed to be conducted , this is left quite a matter of faith . Something is said about the analogy of this kind of insurance to fire insurance , but nothing at all leading to the conviction that they are alike . The object may be to make it a matter of indifference to masters whether their trade continues or not , in which case the indemnification and protection accorded to the subscriber will be most agreeable to him , but will in probability also speedily dissipate the profits as well as the existence of the society . The object being to guarantee masters against loss by strikes , the society must' be careful that in so doing it does not also guarantee a" gain by strikes . The

      prospectus hints that many are desirous already of joining the society , and it is proposed to organise it forthwith . Whether it will succeed remains to be proved ; but great caution ought to be exercised in joining such an adventure . There is such a vast field for miscalculation and mismanagement on one side , and such temptations on the other , as to make it a very hazardous ( speculation . At least it is an affair for tl » o masters to ponder who may look to such a scheme for relief . To the men 1 can only say , io bringing the matter to their notice , that in my own humble opinion it is n piece of machinery of which they need not have the smallest apprehensions . The machinery hitherto introduced to workmen has been

      Untitled Article

      SCOTTISH RIGHTS AND GRIEVANCES . Falkirk , Jan . 2 nd , 1854 . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) StR , —Being a constant reader of the Leader , and having faith in its leadership on most questions , I feel somewhat disappointed when , as at present , I ana forced to dissent from yon . This dissent is occasioned by your article in the Leader of the 24 th of December , headed « Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled . " Although you have . noticed the proceedings

      of the Scottish . National Association before , this is the first time you have given what I am forced to believe you consider reasons against their claims ; and as these reasons have not in my eyes the strength which , doubtless they possess in yours , I am bold enough to desire , ; to say a few words-on the other side . The tone of i , he article is no more satisfactory to me than the arguments ; but as- the Leader has so far improved on the practice of the London press in giving any reasons on the subject , I shall waive any objections on that score . ToU tell

      us that Lord Eglinton and his associates have been already answered—and out of their own mouths , too ¦—t hough , with characteristic Scottish obstinacy , they refuse to accept the answers given . And no wonder if all of them are as wide of the mark as tha t of the Times to Professor Aytoun , on the question o f a Secretary of State for Scotland . You yourself admit that you do not see the force of that answer ; but the very reason you give for not accepting it , is a proof that you have failed to comprehend the claim put forth by the Association . Indeed I am almost tempted" to ask if you have read the remarks of Professor Aytoun oh that subject , in his speeches At the Edinburgh and Glasgow

      meet-Church . I think you . have made-a slight mistake in recommending , t ^ e Epicurean philosophy of the poet , productive , as it was , of such sad results to himself ; nor is the song you quote from at all creditable to his memory . I refer you © n this point to the note attached to the song by Allan Cunningham . The late decision of the Court of Session , in the case of the Sunday steamer on the Clyde , is no . doubt gratifying as an authoritative affirmation of a great principle , but you are mistaken if you think ifTwte . ti § eo « i ' to let Scotsmen know that they were at liberty to ^ abroad on Sunday in merry mood or otherwise . Few even of the most bigoted of the Sabbatarians ever dreamed of enforcing Sabbath observance by the aid

      of the obsolete law * of the past . Even , Sir James ' Colquhoun , Sabbatarian militant as he is , rested his claim for an interdict to the Emperor steam-boat calling : at the piers on the Gareloch . chiefly on the . ground of his proprietorship . At th « public piers on the Clyde no obstruction was offered : To " yduT ' ire ^ marks oh this subject , you fall into the common error of Englishmen , in supposing that Scotsmen are constrained to their peculiar observance of the Sabbath by spine external influence , . and are" necessarily miserable on that day . This is a mistake . ' A Scotch

      Sunday is . no doubt insufferably dull to an Englishman ; but so is . an English Sunday to most of our continental neighbours . In fact , we are" all too ready to judge the feelings of our neighbours by bur own in like circumstances , unmindful of the modifying influences of education , custom ,- andj , Above ajl , tempera : ment . Por my own part , though a Scotsman , I am anxious for a more rational use of the day of rest than has hitherto prevailed in Scotland ; but 1 must confess I do not see how this affects the claims of the National Scottish Association . . . u . . . , I am , Sir , yours respectfully , , - . A Scotsjjan . . •¦ •• • . S ; B ! _ *• .. ¦ - ¦ . . t ' . >\* ... ¦ '

      ings , for it , is inconceivable how any person having done so , could mistake his meaning so entirely as you have done . Believe me , neither Professor Ayr toun nor any of his countrymen , are silly enough to get up an agitation to change the title of Lord Advocate for that of Secretary . What they do ask is , that the person performing the duties of Secretary of State , by whatever title he may be designated , shall not have to perform also the duties of Public Prosecutor , besides attending to his own professional practice at the Scottish Bar . Your remark that helplessness is the proof of demerit , as success is the test of merit , is , with , some reservation , true , and is an excellent reason for the existence of the National Association for the Vindication of Scottish Rights .- ;

      The degradation and neglect of wliich Scotsmen complain are no doubt attributable in a great measure to their own lack of energy in claiming the * fulfilment of the national contract with . England To insist on the due performance of that contract is the chief object of the Association . If Scotland , having tried to obtain justice from England for the first time , fails , I , for one , will not complain , but accept the failure as a proof of demerit . Whether or not Wallace is the only Scottish rival of Wellington , I will not stop to inquire ; but I cannot be so unjust to the memories of Napier and Abercrombie

      as to imagine that , had the same dangers threatened their country as in the days of Wallace and Bruce , their swords would not have been drawn on the same side . And equally fortunate for both countries was it that these gallant men were spared the necessity of renewing their achievements on Bannockburn . I lament , as you do , the perversity which prefers the historical philosophy of Alison to that of Macaulay , but I do not think' it is at all peculiar to Scotland . Those who thoroughly accept the democratic sentiment of Burns , " the rank is but the guinea stamp , " are fawr enough in any country ; but I am much mistaken if they are proportionately

      fewer in Scotland than elsewhere . Scotland , since the passing of the Iiefonn Bill , has always returned a majority of Liberal members to Parliament , and any widening of the . elective franchise will infallibly augment that majority . The universal church of the songster certainly derives small support from the creed and Confession of Faith of the Scottish Church , but is it more fortunate if it appeals to the Articles of the Church of England ? Dr . Jelf seema to think not , and I , who prefer the church of the poet , yet think that neither the Confession of Faith nor the Thirty-nine Articles , honestly and logically interpreted , give the slightest countenance to that

      Untitled Article

      January 7 , 1854 . ] THE LEADER .- , 7

      Untitled Article

      Thoughts of Tbavkl , ron [ TSkw Year ' s Eyb . « - * Columbus , alone upon the sea with his disaffected crew , looks over the waste of waters from his high station ^ on tneHpoog o f his ship / and sees the first uncertaia ^ timmer dTthe agnt , rising and falling . with the waves , like the torch nv the bark of some fisherman , which is the shjfling star , of ji * iiew world . Bruce is caged in A ^ ywinisi auirourided by ^ tfie gory horrors which shall often stei ^ 6 ( | um > . 0 jUt , vQf , J ^ B ^|^ at home , when years have passed awayl , Franklin , come to tin ui uia iauu

      vuu uuiukyyj uver journey—wouKTiuabrli ; liao . been bis last 1—Hes peiiahirig of bungec with" hi » bwiveiCbnQ ^ panions : each emaciated figure stretched upon . its miaewblflj ted without the power to me : all / dividing the V ^ rfakya between their prayers , their remembranc e * of the dear-ones at home , and ( conversation on the pleasures o ^ f&tinsfytli < 9 la ' st-nimea topic being ever present to them , likewjSe / in their dreams . 'All the African travellers , wayiwdra ^ dBtAryand sad , submit themselves again to ^ rankenv i mn rderous . man ^ sel / jng despots , of . the lowest sorder of humanity ; ani Mango Park , fainting under a- tree' and succoured by a ' woman , gratefully-remembers haw bis Good Samaritan has always . come to him . in woman ' s shape , the wide world « oy « r . . . . . Thoughts of another kindottravel ^ come ^ mw any ; mind . Thoughts of a voyager unexpectedly summoned front

      Home , w&o travelled a runt flintnnrQtjini rnnjrt nrrrr rrttlfn Thoughts of this unhappy wayfam" ( U-iluBLdepths . o ^ 3 us sorrow , in the bitterness of bis arignisb , inthe hclplfeaiwss of , bis self-reproach , in the desperation ! of nis desii'e to set right what he had [ eft wrong , and do what he hadjtejtajuu done . ' . Why does this traveller ' s fate obscure , on new , Tear ' s Eye , surpass the oth « r ^ fejltdrie » of travellers with : which my mind was filled but now , and cast a solemn shadow overlie t Must I one day make bis journey ? Even so . , Who stall say , that-1 may not then be tortured by such late regrets : ' that I . may not then look from my exile on my . empty pUce and undone work ? I stand upon a sea shore , wliere . tjlie waves are years . They break and f all , ana I ' inay littl ^ hoed them : but , with every wave the sea is rising , and Ikiipw that it will float iri-e on this traveller ' s voyage at lasi . ^—DicHens ' s " Household Words . " , ¦ '

      , Easter at Cokstantin 6 pl . k . —The Greek Lent is dwr , and it is Easter at Constantinople . All night long great guns have been firing afar off , and small arms are being'dur ~ charged by excitable persons at every street corner . Yoa might fancy the town vras being stormed , instead of holding liign festival—so violent is the noise and uproar . During the day the streets are crowded as a fair , and perambulated by itinerant vendors of good things as boisterous as on a Saturday night at Wapping . lowla , sweetmeats , Tank pastry , various preparations of milk and rakee seem to bo the chief things which furnish a Greek merry-making atj Constantinople . Little boys with eager black eyes and tali lovry complexions arc in their glory , and go yelling and whooping about , to the dismay of staid wayfarers . 'Here is 8 St _~ . ~ l .. M— A ^ 1 ^ .. UA 3 _ A /^^ A . l- . « Sfct « . w ^ 1 a .. j 3 «^ 1 viiAtnwAaMM ' AtiftlMikk ) / lDuiu inu

      U 1 CCA nilU UICIV 10 1 * VJIC « 5 H . KllU g | » i , u « siiij | uo l » Wi and dark matted hair falling about in wild array ; "I lofliow no race : of men more romantic in appearance . ' Thejf ^ go swaggering about from street to street ill all the'bravery of their national costume , and you may hear their voi <* 8 a hundred yards off as tlioy wrangle and tflaro at each other on the smallest occasion of dispute . Tho dominant race ^ the grave and dignified Turks , carry themselves verr different lv . They oit about , croas-Ugged . on the benches o £ coiTee-honseB , or before their itinerant stalls of raohalibb arid yaourt . Howeror dirty , poor , and miserable the Turk may be , he always smokes his pipe with tho same grand calm air . When two or three of them are together they may porhapB tell each other now and then that God is great j Imt this id evidently the only attempt at conversation wluch is suited to their sense of self-importtwoe and tho heat of tbe day . —DickeruU "Household Words *

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 7, 1854, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2020/page/17/