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VOLUNTEER VANITIES.
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WELLINGTON—THE AVARRIOR AND THE STATESMAN.*
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other means of doing- so than by selling- things in the streets , and if she was not allowed to do so she and her children must starve . The worthy Alderman . —all aldermen , we believe , are worthy—¦ was very sorry for her ., very ; but he was bound to ' administer the law . And this is what he said to the poor womtui : — - " It was nonsense for her to talk of starving 1 , because in this country no one was permitted to starve ; and if she could not obtain a livelihood without breaking the law , she ought to apply to the proper authorities , and she would be taken care of . " How delighted the poor creature must have been to hear that in this country no one was allowed to starve , and that there were " proper authorities" whose business it was to take care of every one who could not take care of himself . But if she sought out those proper authorities , she would find them installed in a large mansion , with a sternly-barred outer-gate , from which , on her application , a head would be thrust , and a harsh , gruff voice would tell her that there was no room , and order her to go her ways . And there , on the cold stones , with her six starving children shivering around her , she might lie all night , and console herself as she best might with the magistrate ' s assurance that no one is allowed to starve in this country . We are glad to see that Sir Walter was merciful in this case . He would discharge her this time , but he sincerely hoped she would not repeat the terrible ^ offence of annoying the * rich wharfingers and ware- i housemen of Lower Thames-street , by attempting- ' to ' 'get an honest j living before their counting-house windows . ' , j Sir Walteu enjoyed a sort of grand massacre of guilty street-folk on this 3 rd of October . His victims were brought up ' in relays of three or four at a time . ' Atlengtii-. it came to the turn of an Irish girl who had actually had the audacity to appear with a basket of apples on'her . arm in Cheapside—iu Cheapsidey under the very I nose of Sir JRobkut Waltkr Ca ' x himself . Could audacity j further go ? And / she actually said that the LoitD Mayor would j eat her apples . Sir Walti-: u was very anxious to know if that were true . The constable , whom the girl declared to be " melting with lies , " said it was . Sir Waltkk ' s judicialmind was inade up at once , fined half-a-crown ';¦ or , in default , three days' imprisonment . The girl ' s furious . comment upon the judgment points the moral of . this ruthless ' -and' heartless system—' ¦ I hope I may die 'before Iconic here a-gain ,. you wicked old wretch . ' "' It is easy to interpret the meaning-of this expression . It is a natural ebullition , of anger and resentment at a cruel and selfish law , which hounds down the poor because they are poor , and will not allow them to ^> e honest if they would . Can it bu right or just to prevent this girl from getting-her living- in the oiily way open to her , simply because the City : has said , " we shall have no beggars , or street vendors , in our thoroughfares , to get in our way and offend , our eyes ? " . This girl has , perhaps , learned no handicraft . She must not beg . She muat not sell apples in the streets . String , healthy , and ablebodied , is it likely that she will tamely accept the life of a pauper in a ^ workhouse r Is there not every cause impelling her to a life of vice and crime ? This cruel law denies to the poor a soul to call their own . They arc degraded to a lower level than that of the brutes , for they are forbidden to exercise the superior faculties which God has equally implanted in the- heart of the lawgiver and the beggar . The law is a City law , and a City law exclusively . It is one of many other of tho same Draconian stamp ,, which City hcartlessness will not allow to beeomo obsolete , Street vendors are not so persecuted outside tho City bounds . At the west end of tho town costermongors are allowed to follow their trade in the . streets without molestation from tho police , if they do not create a disturbance ) or block up tho thoroughfares . All that is required of them is that they shall move when they aro required to do so . If tho City law woro enforced by the metropolitan , polico and tho paid magistrates , thu result would bo that man ) ' thousands of industrious persons woxild bo deprived of tho means of gaining an honest livelihood , and till tho workhouses of tho town would not bo largo onougli to hold them . In faot , the occupation of costermongor would bo wiped out from tho category of trades , and the poorer portion of the population would bo deprived of a ready and couyonient markot for tho purohaso of tlio ordinary necessaries of life . It is very rarely , indeed , that wo hoar of a seller of apples or combs being sent to prison , by ono of the paid magistrates . They aro brought xip by the police , as other persons nro brought up , when they create a breach of the pe-uoo , or persist iu violating tho reasonable rules by which their trade is regulated ; but thoy aro never charged with tho ofibnoo simply of neH » n < i qouit /} in tho streets . And when any caso in relation to these- poor struct folk oomoa boforo a wost-oncl police-oourfc , wo invariably find tho ju . clgm . onts of tho gontlomon who preside at I 3 ow-stroot , Worship-street , Southwark , AVestminstur , and tho other Coiirts \ vhavQ tho magistrates are properly qualified for their oflico , tempered witli consideration ana mercy . The sumo charity ancl kindly ibeling 1 in evinced by thu west-end nhopkoopors . In Sxford-struot , Tottonhum-oourt-rotul , thu Strand , and many jthoi ^ thoroughfares , groat anil small , the loadiug shopkeepers pormit poor puoplo to sot up stalls in oloso proximity to tlioir promises ' . Thoy pay no rent , but their right to tlio sitos marked Jut for thorn is fully roooguiaod ; and no opposition out-door morolinnt would bo permitted to disputo their tonuro . In . tho City , however , those poor pooplo are tho douhirod onomicsof 3 ooioty . Shopkeepers and morohtmts will not permit them to como t > ot \ voon tho wind and their pin-no-proud nobility . Tho polico nro jot to hunt thoui , as bloodhounds aro lot slip upon fugitive - Virginian slaves . ' Fortune-making must not bo interfered with by ragged waift trying 1 to scrape together a few halfpence to keep Jody and soul tog-ether , Tho City is ' no placs for thorn . fcot them ;
go to the west-end and sell their apples , their combs , and their other trumpery merchandise . Here City selfishness comes out in its . full force . "Move on , " they say to these poor wretches , " anvwhere out of the City . " For all they care , " any where , any where , out of the world . " ' We believe that this foul plot upon our civilisation arises solely out of the great unpaid system . The same harshness and cruelty towards the poor are exhibited in every place where justice is dispensed by amateur magistrates . There are no more ruthless persecutors of the poor than the country squires and parsons , who preside at petty sessions—except , perhaps , City aldermen . That these incompetent persons should be allowed to enfoi * ce laws which , have long been rejected by common sense and common humanity , is a stain upon the administration of justice , which can only be wiped out by wiping out the monstrous system which permits and fosters so great a scandal .
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Nov . 10 a I 860 ] The Saturday Analyst and Leader . 925
Volunteer Vanities.
VOLUNTEER VANITIES .
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| I"VHEY are very young-, probably , these gentlemen who are JL proposing to visit Paris in their Volunteer uniforms , !• otherwise we should imagine that the English were losing" what I used to be a marked English feature—a detestation of display ; we should fancy that in our very cordial embrace of Our neighbours and allies , some of their medals , filligree , and red ribbons , had got . entangled with our own buttons , and that the serpent of vanity had taken advantage of the embrace to pass from one national bosom to another—to borrow an image from Virgil ; or , at any rate , to transmit one of its little viper-lings . It would be difficult to conceive anything more silly , or in worse taste , more r / auclic , as the French would call it , than this idea of forcing ostentatiously on their notice a personification of English patriotism , dressed out in all shades of grey and bottlergrecn . Patriotism ought to be dignified and retiring in all cases , except before an armed enemy . Vain people hate vanity , and have a keen eye for it , especially in the person- of a neighbour ; and if the French respect us at all , it is for qualities which ar our ¦ oii ' -u , and not theirs . If any of our young Volunteers wish to visit Paris , let theln go as simple Englishmen in their ordinary attire , and without any desire to show off . What occasion can there possibly be for it ? The Parisians are quite familiar enough . with the ordinary English aspect of face and limb , and they are quite aware that there are about two hundred thousand of us , such as we are , ready to resist any unfriendly approximation . This is all that is necessary for them to know . One exhibition of this kind of bad taste was enough . When the Orpheonists were here on their harmonious and strictly amicable visit , nothing would satisfy tis but a vast parading of our Volunteers in front of the gallery where the musicians . were dining . The Frenchmen were of course not wanting in cheers of politeness ; but that such an exhibition , on such an occasion , was likely to increase their national respect for us ,. we must take the liberty of very much doubting . With all his vanity and love for outside decoration , the Frenchman knows how to manage his master-passion , with some gracie , and possesses a kind of native sense to instruct him in tho '; proper . " If we must have his vanity , let us , at any rate , borrow from him a little of his tact .
Wellington—The Avarrior And The Statesman.*
WELLINGTON—THE AVARRIOR AND THE STATESMAN . *
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rplME is at hia usual work , converting the past into an ideal stage JL with myths for facts , and heroes for ordinary actors . Napoleon has long been regarded as a representative man ; and Wellington , though moro slowly , is arriving at tho same honour . From the beginning , Napoleon had this advantage . AVclling-ton ' s rise was indeed rapid . Entering tho army at soventaem as an ensign , ho became at twenty -one captain , member of parliament , and aido-do " cump to the lord-lieutenant ; at twenty-four , ho was Heut .-colonol ; and at twenty-six , colonel , llut favourable as fortune was to Wellington , sho was still more favourable to Napoleon : though humbly born und without family interest , Napoleon , by tho ago of twentyseven , hud risen through tho lovvor grades of his military career , and was a general in Italy , whilo Wellington was serving in India as a subaltern . By tho aid of his brother , however , the lattor rose into importance us mi authority in finance and in civil and military policy 'Ho was found equal to tho managoment of important afluira ' , ancl entered on a path of greatness like a man born to it . Ho seized on nil offices with ease , and mastered the details ol tho most difficult business with adroitnoss , ancl with a matuve thoughtfulnoss wonderful in ono ho young . In tho Mahratta war , being employed as u commander , ho gave tho world assurance of his genuw in tho battlo of Assnye Tho campaign besides served as an adimraWe preparation for tho task he had to perform in tho Spanish peninsula . Accordingly , ho returned from his nine years' apprenticeship . a practical general , familiar with the details of tho supply of armies m circumstances ot' exceptional difficulty . ttoou . Hto . no 4 *« rooonojo eonfficting interests union * his subordinates and al lea , jnd totroat of groat alluira with powerful potentates as au Qqu . il , sometimes as a fewhilo , Napoleon hud twice conquered Italy •« had gra ted tho French revolution ; had been olnwon * ivh ! Consul ; hud moao * WWtwnt , Oarmr , a Mtttari , - ^ ™>«> ' * ' a *** " * »? K 1 " " llrllc 0 Batnloy . ^ Vw . Wlftoiwoort & So" ^ .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 10, 1860, page 925, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2373/page/5/
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