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Leader (1850-1860), 6th January 1855, Edition 1 of 2, Page 15, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      utter hollowness of the whole affair ; bst have we any reason to fttteeft ; when tlie principles of economy thus iflustrated' are carried out all around us ? J £ paste returns the Srisma tic colours , is it not as charming as iarndnd ? If Anthony will not sacrifice all for love , and think even the world well lost , unless he get a per-centage of 50 j ? er cent ., does not the philosophy of the day inculcate the main chance as an object of care never to be forgotten , even by a Mark Antony ?

      At this particular season of the year ^ e ought to Be more than ever impressed with the increasing substitution of the spurious for the genuine . There was a time when a Christmas dinner was as sterling as the sentiments that encircled the board ; and perhaps the comparison still holds : good > although the viands are no longer what they once were * The hospitable board glitters with [ G-erman ] silver . The soup that is first placed upon the table is thickened , though the careful

      housekeeper would not like to own it , with gelatine ; but the gelatine itself which purports to be derived from birds' nests ^ sharks ' ribs , or some other rare and noble origin , is manufactured chiefly from the raw materials of the knacker ' s . The host palms off upon his guests gelatine and water for soup ; the grocer sends knacker ' s glue for gelatine ; and so the Christmas dinner opens . The beef , perhaps , is not meat of questionable principles from Spain ; the very requirements of size and colour demand that it should be

      English ; But the mustard you eat with it is half turmeric ; and if the ingredients in the Christmas pudding are not all of them adulterated , the raisjns-iave been parboiled to make them swell , and the-spices defy detection . The dinner is removed ; and " wine " is placed upon the table of various denominations ; but the keenest palates could not taste the genealogy . Independent of the vine disease in the district of the Dburo is

      the " port" upon the Christmas table ; and the " sherry" knows less of Spain than of the neglected : vintages in Italy . Yes , modern philosophy , enlightened by Liebig and the march of mind , gathers round the Christmas table to analyse the once sterling elements of the national feast , and having been enlight" ene'd ^ catyoff ! " *""' ~ " ~ " WTiy should we blame the grocer , when we ourselves apply the same principles to subjects more refined than grocery ? Christmas is the season for vamping up reconciliations ; and many a party within the fortnight has been brought together on precepts of Christian forbearance , where the real motive has

      been some eye to the will of the offended party , some hope to get support for a favoured Erojec t . The spurious dinner is surrounded y a spurious Christmas party . The hilarity ia as pure as the port , and the eye beams with affection as brilliant to look upon as the paste diamonds in the head of the dowager ^ -substitutions for the par ure which is in pledge with the money-lender . Or go to public affairs , and the rule still holds good . A Peace Minister enters office to prosecute the war , and may reconcile himself to consistency by reflecting that hostilities are so carried on as almost to render war as impossible as peace !

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      There is no learned man . but wxll confess -h . e hath much tJronted t » y reading GofctubVeMfie * , his senses awakened , and his judgment sharpened . If , then , it be profitable for him / to read , whjr should it not , at least , betolerablefor his adversary to TCritCi—Miueoh

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      THE ISSUE OF THE WAR . ( To the Editor i > f tife Leader . )' December 20 , 1854 . Sik , —I have reason to be surprised at the Times implying that it had not been calculated that an attack on the Crimea was ah attack on Russia . Tet it was easy to learn that the Crimea is a peninsula , and not an island , and that Russia , could send troops into the peninsula * As long as Russia was attacked on different points at once , success might be looked : fttf in one place or another . But as soon as the Whole attack was concentrated upon a- single point * there was little doubt that Russia would hurry all her disposable forces to that point ) in numbers far superior to thetotalstrengthof the Allies .

      When the expedition to the Crimea took place , I concluded the operations were to be extended to the whole peninsula , or at all events that the Russian generals had been bought , so as to assure the success of a coup demaiti ; but as soon as neither the one nor the other of these hypotheses was realised , the enterprise became visibly not only difficult but even dangerous . If the allied fleets have done nothing , you must not expect to impose conditions on Russia by a land force

      of 30 , 000 men—the actual active force of British troops in the Crimea . Napoleon the First , who knew something about the military art , did next to nothing with 700 , 000 men , thanks to strategical mistakes ; surely mistakes far more considerable are being committed now . In 1813 , Napoleon marched at all events into the heart of Russia , and only lost his army for want of provisions . Now Russians attacked at one extreme point only , and already you pretend to impose conditions of peace !

      The taking of Sebastopol will never secure that result , and Sebastopol is not yet taken ; , all the letters received from the scene of operations agree in saying that it will not be taken " unless we change the mode of attack . " Canrobert is no strategist , the French themselves admit , and Lord Raglan has com * initted a succession of blunders . To count upon the Austrians is to reckon -without your host . Austria is rather for Russia than for the Allies ; the treaty of the 2 nd of December provides only . that _ steps shall be Jjaken to ^> btain peace , and if unsuccessful ,, ondibaitra ^ not on se b' Stlfdir" "

      There remain Poland and Hungary , and here I must say that the revolution in those two countries has had chances of success : there have been armies , arsenals , munitions of war in Poland as in Hungary ; but at present the Polish youth are dispersedin the ranks of the Russian army . The country is so thoroughly disarmed that when a proprietor wants to have a fowling-piece he can obtain permission from the authorities only if his opinions are " sound . " It is much the same in Hungary . The Slavo-Mogyar question is a double-edged question , and Russia is quite ready to " work" it for her own

      purposes . Taking into consideration the immense blunders that have been committed , and those that will be committed , I venture to express my opinion that a peace on the basis of the four guarantees would be a satisfactory result . . I am , Sir , your obedient servant , The Actiiou of " Tub Nations op Russia and tubkev , and their destiny . "

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      JUNG BAHADOOR . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) Sir , —Allow mo to point out an inaccuracy in last Saturday's Leader , on the subject of the Nepauleso armaments . You speak of Jung Bahadoor as if lie were the ruler of that country , whereas he is no more than Prime Minister . It is true , indeed , that his power is ; greater even than that of his sovereign , but this circumstance is all in favour of amity withtho English . During his residence in Great Britain , Jung waB ' inspired with a profound admiration of every , thing British , and was deeply struck with the magnitude of , our power . He is , therefore , very tnilikely to adopt any measures calculated to loud to hostilities ; for—as he himself remarked t 6 Mr . Oliphant" though a'cat when pushjed into a corner will fly at fin elephfvnty it will take gbod care to keep out of tho corner a& long no possible / ' Ji Hi

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      8 MW&B 8 * igPrbmd various Correspondence . ') — The world is delighted with the Queen's letter to good Mrs . Sidney Herbert ; the British world particularly is happy , noticing that a Queen has femfc-. nine sentiments ; - being , surprised at , that ftict , and , sweetest discovery of all , that she ; underlines her . phrases like a true woman , the loyal printers accord * ingly scattering " italics" and capital letters in the newspaper copy with emphatic exuberance . The joy of Ensign Tomkins and Private Jones When they find they are part of a "belbveSarmy " - ~ b «!* loved ^ though trusted to blundering / cbieft- —* beloved > : though individually perhaps objectionable ,, except ?

      sentrywise in a court atmosphere . But the letfer in its delicious , impulsive weakness ( the ttmttefis tmpotentia ) of phrase , made strong by the feminine underwriting , which ensures its force with all good hearts , is a good letter , and will endear the Queen more and . more to her people—and most of all , tothe real people , of humble homes , thinned of gallant " fellows / 5 to whom the tearful sympathy of the royal lady will be precious . But isn't it a new feature in history these Ministresses of War—a Queen writing to a Right Hon . SecretaryeBs of War ; who > in town , sends a despatch tt > that pious Medical Officeress —Miss Nightingale ? Wfcy not put the Ministering Angel into recognised " office ? "

      Perhaps , however , Mr . Sidney Herbert shares ^ his Salary ; — When lions and tigers are oombatiflg , thefts has his day * and , just now , when public attention is absorbed in the war * or rather in the attemntat peace , a variety of abuses , governmental andother- > wise , are setting in as they set in during tHe last war—for instance the new agreementbetween- this North-Western and Great-Western Railway Companies : an agreement to agree as to fares in districts , for the traffic of which hitherto they nave been competingso that in future they may plunder

      , the public between them . At any other time there would be an outcry against this leaguer as it is ,. nofc a word of objection is raised ; and with such encouragement the principle may Be carried otat witn other companies ^—say between the NoartfeWesteitt and the ( ireat-Northertu An actuaiv amalgamaUon would then follow , and a system would arise , in comr parison with which the old highwaymen : dangers to property would be trivial . Mr . GaRltrsir is not a . fa £ frVi minjatgrj ^ oan Am Overlook t / his cofcBpiracjr to settle a new ocracy in a land already over-ocra-¦

      tised ? ¦ .. . -. ' . . . ' . , . — When in Irfmis Napoleon ' s Speech to his representatives , tharparagraph abofut Marshal St ^ Arnaud "forcing death to iBdcit for victory" W ^ as read in Paris , the universal exclamation in political circles was Mocauafd ! The solution ; of this enigma is that M . Mocquard , private secretary to the Emperor , exadvocate , ex-viveur , the last of the troubadours to Ea Reine Hortense ( who was always departing for

      Syria ) , and we know not what besides , once perpetrated a translation of Thcitui . This translation was performed after the dexth of his patroness , in theabsence-of ^ brieft , inJlLhealthj and [ in the depth of provincial obscurity—a conibinaiSdn of " unfavourable circumstances which will account , perhaps , for M . Mooquard ' s Tacitus being even less known than M . Mxwquard . He little dreamt of one day putting Taoitue into the mouth of an Emperor . Forcer la morti it is the sublime of parody . __ ¦

      We hear in Paris that Victor Hugo has written an ode on the death of St . Arnaud , who with a shadow over his heart , and a " damned spot upon his hand sought to cover the bloody guilt of the Boulevards in an atoning grave . Si faifaUh j at bien exptf—Stv Arnaud is reported to have said in his farewell address to his soldiers ; but the phrase ( if authentic ) " was struck out before it reached the Monitenr . A fine subject for the poet of the Ch&timents . ' . , Not many weeks ago there was a soiree at tne Tuileries—many of the ministers were present . Telecranhie desoatcltes of the Emperor were brought in

      on a salver in the course of the evening . . Louia Napoleon quietly road the despatches , smiled doubtfully , and then—handed them to his Minister of Foreign Affairs ? Not at all ^ -he ro l le d up the despatches , placed one end to a candle , and'burnt them to within an inch of his fingers , the Ministers standing by m mute astonishment . Verily , despotism has a grand air , and Napoleonic despotism haa always a amuck of tho brigand . In constitutional England we do not burn despatches—wo cook them . „ — Well , " said a distinguished tmter m £ «««> to a well-known deputy of the Imperial Legislative corpse , " aoyourespond ^ toM dc Morny ^ announcement of the loan with acclamations . ^ » Ma / to , out , r ^ nllfld tho don utv . shrugging his shoulders ; que

      vnicz-voust nous ' sommesiapour ceiar' " ™ aou % rejoined thepublioist ; " vous otea le Corpsacclamant , A "J ^ T » daily at tho preparation of lint for the army . " What n ity Luis ' Napoleon wa ^ not ^« rried ip Vocembor * 61 Hi » wife would have h « aietoough to do to find lint Ibr the citizen * woftndtd' ih dctfinding tho laws .

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      Lajirmt op an IhisH Emigrant . —Mr . " W . Carloton , tho Irish writer of fiction , announces that he is about to leave Ireland for ever , arid to close the remainder of his days in Canada . This information ho embodies in the following stanzas— - " Ungrateful . country , I resign „ , The debt you'owe'to mo and mine ; My sore neglect—your guilt and ehamo —• >> And fling you back your curse of fame . " Mr . Culeton " has been for many years receiving a government pension ofi 200 / . per annum , as an aoknovrltdgmont of hus literary merits .

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  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 6, 1855, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2072/page/15/