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Town Hall that the open supporters and Covert foes of the Premier , and the policy lie is supposed to represent , found themselves face to face . It is in the addresses of the Town Council and the Commercial Association that we have the expression of the views of Manchester on large imperial questions , and a hearty recognition oi the presumed merits of Lord pAiiMEBSTON . It is in the address of the Chamber of Commerce that we see traces of the spirit , if not the pen , of Cobden , Bei&ht , and Gibson—of the materialists and non-interventionists . In the
former addresses Lord Paimeeston is regarded as the maintainer of British honour , the " foe of oppression in every form ; " the " protector of British subjects abroad ; ' * as a Minister who in a time of danger and Aberdeenism was found " possessed of firmness and ability commensurate with the crisis . " And Mr . Turner assured his lordship that the Manchester men are not wholly devoted to cotton-bags and money-making ; but that in a just and necessary war Hee Majestt would " find no menmore determined to
support her arms , or to bear without a murmur the burdens of war , than the citizens of Manchester . " But in the address of the Chamber of Commerce , the spirit of the Cobdenmen rises up to lecture the Government for its shortcomings , not in upholding the honour of the country , but in not upholding the cotton interest—in not passing the Shipping Dues Bill—in not making India a cotton country . And this negative censure in an . address of welcome was capped b
y a clumsy apology for introducing so much shop talk . But PaIiMerston always can get the ¦ weather-gauge of any assailant . To the " War men , he is the W " ar Minister ; to the Peace men , be is for continued Peace ; to the Free traders , he is a Free-trader , as " the Exe " witnesseth ; to the Chamber of "Commerce , he is for " progressive improvement . " He let out the secret of his general agency . The English people have what is called " selfgovernment ; " and the way to govern them is
to find out what they will have , and what they will let you take : concede the former , and they will graut the latter , will press it upon you . He told them at Manchester that , if the people do not get what they want , it is their own fault . That is , if they have made up their minds , and will persist enough , Mascaiiili . b will recognize the ' sense' their petitions to Parliament . Leigh Htjwt tells somewhere of a man wbo went aboat
Juondon ' crying' every fish that was in season ; yet he had but a little hand-basket hanging on . his wrist . Tell him the fish you wanted , and he would get it in a trice , better and cheaper than you could buy it , from the circumjacent fishmongery . PAiiMEn . STON is that fishmonger . We should not wonder if , supposing the people wanted even a Refoim Bill , they would find a good specimen in Pai > mebston ' s basket . But they must call for it , and must call loudly , too .
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ROBSON'S TICKET OF LEA . YE . The picture of Robsoh as he appeared soon after his sentence , with a close-cropped head and prison dress , would have naoro efiect upon the population at large than any verbal report of the trial ; but to complete the moral , it should be accompanied by the picture of the same man in full swing as a great gentleman . A pair of pictures of this kind should be Hung up m the coffee-rooms and ' private rooms of those handsome and convenient hotels , where the Robsons of our day « most do congregate . ' Aa to the mere punishment , it is hateful to the individual while he undergooa it ; but he is not undergoing it in the previoua years . While he haathe life he
dethe profit which he can rake together in the higher stage ; and may ultimately be even an honourable director , with his own carriage his own mansion , and his own debts , all placed on a safe footing , with the possibility of converting the debts into assets by some lucky turn . We could point to more than one man whose name now figures high in lists of directors , whose contribution is believed to be an honour to a charity , whose presence would be hailed with heartfelt delight at a public meeting , but who might at some period of his life have gone into a melancholy siding such that in which Robson has
as come to a collision . It all depends upon the degree of cleverness and luck , and perhaps upon the degree of complicity into which higher persons can be drawn ; I ) avid son and Gordon obtained first-rate assistance , even after one of the firm , had been distinctly recognized as " a thief . ' * These are considerations which materially abate the moral influence of the pair of pictures . The Robsoir of 1855 was sharp enough to attain the distinguished position that he did , but it was want of sharpness or luck which sent the Robson of 1856 into his truly ludicrous position . . ¦ And Society draws exactly the same distinction that we have imagined the HbBSOir drawing . The whole difference between the venial mail and the culpable is , whether or not he has the money in his purse . Anything short of atrocious crime is pardoned to a full purse . A tavern-keeper proceeded against a gentleman this week for 90 / . as the balance of a tavern bill , incurred apparently during a month or six weeks . The whole transaction is instructive . The tenant
pleaded " never indebted , payment , and the fact that the lodging had been let to him for an immoral purpose . " This reminds us of the old plea in bar of the action for the broken coal-scut tie , ' —that it was not broken , had been mended , and had never been borrowed . While courts of law admit pleaa which are absolutely incompatible , and which convict each other of being lies , we can scarcel y wonder that men out of doors are lax in their moral distinctions . Mr . Meielam had sinned against the landlord of an hotel in Air-street . He was accused of
Bires , the penalty is too remote , too faint , to have its effect upon him . The very difficulty is to get at such men in . the nick of time , to preach the sermon which RoBsoir illustrates to the Robson before he accumulates its raw material ; and we doubt even , whether the picture of the two Robsons , repeating Hoclabth ' s moral of the Rake ' s Progress , would make the new Robson of the hour pause in his supper , or do anything but quiz the ultimate fate of the fellow who had not been
sharp enough to keep a better costume . Besides , the Robson may turn round upon us , and say that he could not accomplish his career without our assistance . Somebody must make his opportunity , and so it was in the present case . Robson was first introduced to the Crystal Palace Company as a smart young man , well worth his clerk ' s salary of one pound a week . The Crystal Palace Company offered double ; and soon after he entered the glass house establishment , he was promoted to a better position
At the head of the transfer department was a Mr . Passon , who " suffered a good deal frona ill health , " and while enjoying the consideration which his position implied , he "left a great part of the management of the business of his department to the prisoner , " said Mr . Serjeant BALiiANTiNE , " and undoubtedly this afforded to the prisoner the means of committing the frauds that were imputed to him . " Robson thus found himself early placed in a position of great responsibility , with a salary of 1501 . a year . He was paid for his smartness ; and he used his sharpness against those who paid him so low a salary for doing duties to which a high salary was attached . If there is some degree of laxity here , it appears to us that it does not lie exclusively with Robson . ,
But it requires something more to manufacture a full-grown Robsony The plant will only flourish in a certain atmosphere ; and , luckily for the species , the atmosphere is as readily found in moral ^ London as it is in New York or Paris . Several gentlemen engage in a joint-stock speculation ; it is very desirable to have good commercial data to go upon ; but essential to have a plausible project . The inconsiderate public , however , is less influenced by the details of the project , upon which of course it depends , than
by the names of the directors and the look of the establishment . Accordingly , the projector tries to get * eminent' names on the published list of directors ; he seeks very handsome apartments as the offices ; and equips them splendidly , with good substantial furniture , footmen in . official livery , and all that can give to the house an appearance of opulence . In these days , names are easily got ; many a company at the Eaat-end , and even at the " West-end , has its splendid apartments , its footmen , and that ready command of cash which looks so aristocratic :
having ladies to sup in his rooms , Imt that was not the sin ; the landlord , indeed , " not aware of it , " except retrospectively . Mr . Meiklam was accused of consorting with another gentleman , who came sometimes in a brougham—' St . John ' s Wood , you know ! ' But that was not the offence that was unpardonable . The lodger was sometimes tipsy ; but landlords forgive that , although they consider it ' mauvais -gout . ' One lady once came to the gentleman ' s
room , and sent for the gay gentleman ; but he was already at the theatre with another lady , and did not feel inclined to return . That , however , was not the unpardonable sin . All went smoothly enough during tlie first month , while the gentleman paid his bills ; his character was gradually seen through when he did not pay his bills . It is the sove reigns that make the distinction between the pardonable and the unpardonable ! And so it is through all life . The gentleman in question was visited by a lord : Robson , 210
all at the expense of the doomed original shareholders . Can any Robson be ignorant of these facts ? He sees around him high or low obtaining money simply by the appearance of having it ; he observes that men of his own class , who wear firstrate clothing , who have always got shillings in their pocket for any amount of ' Hansom , ' and of gold for any amount of tavern
exdoubt , might also find his lords , or other ornaments ; and so long as he could pay for the horses , the dinners , or tho other substrata of good society , ho would himself l > e a ' good , ' societarian , and would command the respect of most whom ho met . The Robson then learns that so long as he can conjure money into his purse , for the moment , the pew opener will bow to him in church , tho landlord will welcome liim us to a Lome , the landlord ' s daughter will wink at the peccadillo , tho lord will grace his
supperpenses , can get into the society of men who lend their names to directories ; and lie sees that while they have the opportunity for advancement , they can realize a considerable amount of substantial enjoyment in the process . In fact , " the Idle Apprentice" of this class can often gallop through a career which leaves " the Industrious Apprentice" behind . " The Idle Apprentice" who is luclcy , may establish liimself'iu one promotion after another ; may pay the debts incurred in one stage by
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1068 THE LEADER . [ No . 346 , Satttkdat
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 8, 1856, page 1068, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2166/page/12/
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