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    »o^J ^^^ IHjUiTAB OF mim m

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    Stof M WwuMm* SATURDAY , OCTOBER 30, 1852.

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    THE LATE FATAL DUEL. TVop olitical exile...

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    THE " PROTECTORS" OF THE INSANE. Bethleh...

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    WANTED A PARTY. There are many great men...

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    »O^J ^^^ Ihjuitab Of Mim M

    » o ^ J ^^^ IHjUiTAB OF mim m

    Ad00905

    JSSSr - SCIE ™ ™™ k , Jowreet ( \ j \ J SUNDAY EVENING LECTURES . „ a * v Evening , Oct . 31 st , 1852 . GEORGE JACOB HOLYOAKE VAnn !^;^ l , wiU " lecture on " Modern Freelhinlun ,, to Vr ^ » ' £ iviffls /' ims . - " , Em , ing , tfov . 7 , Robert Cooper will Lecture on « the Philn ^ h ,, OnSon SunA ^^ Philosoph y f , f 2 fSnpoionic Society , accompanied by the powerful Organ of the Institution , rforni aselection of Choral Music , before and after each Lecture . ' iviUPOT * meaee at Seven precisely . Admission to Hall , 2 d . Gallery , 3 d .

    Stof M Wwumm* Saturday , October 30, 1852.

    Stof M WwuMm * SATURDAY , OCTOBER 30 , 1852 .

    The Late Fatal Duel. Tvop Olitical Exile...

    THE LATE FATAL DUEL . TVop olitical exiles proscribed for the same cause and compelled t to seek refuge on the same soil , startle the strangers among , whom they are sojourning by the spectacle of a fratricidal com-I . bat the result of which is the violent death of one , and a verdict 1

    , ' 0 f " Wilful Murder * hanging over the head of the other—the same verdict including the " seconds" of the ill-advised principals . Truly a melancholy story ; but , at the same time , a solemn protest against that false " code of honour , " that abominable law of the pistol , the behests of which have brought about this shocking catastrophe .

    It has been hinted through the newspapers , that this duel was the consequence of certain rancorous political differences , said to divide the French exiles , That serious differences of opinion exist among the exiled republicans must be admitted ; but certain it is , that the late duel had no connection with politics . The cause of quarrel was one that might have arisen among royalists as well as republicans , among Englishmen as well as Frenchmen . Into the particulars we must decline entering . Suffice it to say , that founding our conclusions upon information imparted to US from a trustworthy source , the cause of the duel was a personal

    question completely and absolutely , and can in no way be held to reflect upon the republican cause , or any section of the republican partv . Another error , the necessary consequence of unauthenticated versions of the transaction having been got up and published by the reporters , needs correction ; the error which obtained very general currencv and belief some days ago—that the unfortunate Cournet was " the victim of foul play . The English witnesses had testified that thev heard only one shot ; and when it was

    subsequently discovered that one of the pistols had not been fired off , and , ow ' ing to the insertion of a rag , could not have been used , the public naturally jumped to the conclusion that it was Cournet ' s pistol that had been tampered with , and that without any chance of shooting his opponent , he had been placed on the ground , not to fight a fair duel , but to be shot—his death being premeditated and provided for . This error was subsequently corrected by the daily papers , and that correction we can confirm from other sources . Notwithstanding the evidence of the

    English witnesses , and the state in which one of the pistols was found , two shots were fired . Cournet fired first , and missed . His opponent then essayed to fire , but the pistol would not go off . He essaved a second time , and again the cap snapped . He then flung awav his pistol and offered to fight with swords . Coup . net refused , but gave his own pistol to his opponent , and from that pistol he received his death-wound , it is but just to repeat that which we have heard , that Coubnkt's opponent , would

    before firing , demanded if , even then , the unfortunate man retract the cause of the quarrel ; but he would not do so . As regards the unused pistol , there is every reason to believe that the insertion of the rag was the consequence of an accident in tne cleanW , previous to the pistol being loaded , and that every arrangemeni ^ ade for the fatal rencontre , strictly accorded with the laws of duelling , and that idea of " honour which it may be presumed guided the actions of all the parties concerned . _ true honour is really ted when it

    But the principle of perver can be made the pretext for an encounter at once both sanguinary and absurd . To speak only of the folly of this attair let us ask what question has this duel settled and disposed ot . We assume Cournet to have repeated a story told to Him detrimental to the character of his opponent . Assume that story to be false , and it was but natural that the man whose character was reflected on should feel himself outraged , and demaua explanation ircum stances miht require , buieiy

    or apology , as c g there was nothing vory difficult or intricate about a ma f . ^ this kind ; no Gordian knot that could be untied only by tne sabre or the pistol-bullet . Either the story was true or talse . If true , Courses owed no apology to any one ; if false , he was bound to make the fullest reparation to the victim ot detraction-he was so bound though he had only repeated , ^ and not invented the story . Now , the truth or falsehood might easily have been got at by a committee of five or six intelligent men . Assumino- the falsehood of the story , and supposing tfiat

    Cournet had been so ill-advised as not to have made the reparation demanded by Justice ; what then ? the dishonoar would have rested upon Cournet , not upon the man who nan been slandered . A committee of half-a-dozen honest and sensible men might have quickly and finally disposed of such a question with ample justice to both parties . But what has this miserable duel settled ? Nothing whatever . Assume CoURnet ' s opponent to hav been an unworthy man before the duel ; has he washed out his own unworthiness in tbe blood of Gourmet ? Certainly not . Assume him to have been a man ot honour before the duel ; did the destruction of Coubnet s lite make Mm a more honourable man ? Certainly not . Assume

    The Late Fatal Duel. Tvop Olitical Exile...

    asrs ^ w- 'SttssjEa iaise aivmit y and hideous relic of barbarous ages . r , mW ^ ff sorry for it . Let us add , that men who aspue to give laws to their country , and to found a new order ot society , are bound to commence by giving laws to them-SftSi ^ eXhiU ? r / ' tfar ° ^ - ^ - " f fhe ^ oTn acts of the superiority of the princiles they f and

    p proess , on which they intend to erect a new political and social superstructure . In our humble opinion , the Republicans are bound , by every consideration of duty and example , to sternly and unnmching y discountenance this barbarous practice of duelling We do not belong to the Peace Society . We should have no objection to see pistol or musket-shot aimed at the head of a tyrant ; but with all our heart and soul , we feel bound to protest agamat a system of fratricide , whether the cause of quarrel be differences of political opinion or acts of personal

    wrong . Without intending any reflection upon Cournet ' s opponent , we cannot conclude these remarks without expressing our heartfelt grief , at his untimely end ; our fervent sorrow at the loss of a man so valuable to the democratic cause . It is hardly possible to over-estimate this heavy discouragement to the good cause . The French Republicans lack neither talent nor courage ; but men fitted by nature and experience to command and lead the forces of Democracy in actual combat , are necessarily few . Of these few Frederick Cournet was one .

    While yet a youth , and serving in the French navy , he gave proofs of-heroism which won for him the grateful applause of his country . From the time of his enlistment in the Republican party he was among the foremost to do and dare all for the cause of his heart ' s adoption , ready even to take the place of absent friends , and to risk his life in their defence . At length came the days of December , when the perjurer Bonaparte by perfidy , burglary and murder , accomplished his Coup d ' etat . In the attempted resistance that ensued , on the part of a handful of Republicans , Cournet took a most prominent part . He put his signature to the- proclamation issued from the office of the Revolution as early as 10 o ' clock on the morning

    of the 2 nd of December , in which Bonaparte was denounced traitor and usurper , and in which the people were summoned to arms . At the first meeting of the remnant of the Extreme Left that could be got together , COURNET " by a few energetic words , " showed the necessity of immediate action at the barricades . He offered his own home as the head quarters for the Revolutionary Committee—the Committee of insurrection . On the morning of December 3 rd ., Cournet superintended the erection of the barricade at the corner of Rue St .

    Marguerite , in the Faubourg St . Antoine , that barricade immortal in history , as the protest of a few devoted men , who placed their bodies as a rampart—holy though feeble—between the outraged country and the prsetorians of a perjured asssssin . A battalion of the 19 th Regiment advanced and fired upon the group of Republicans . Charles Baudin in the act of addressing the soldiers and reminding them of their allegiance to the law was shot dead , his head pierced by two balls , a

    workman also lay stretched lifeless , ; and several fell desperately wounded . The balls missed CoURnEt , and he Struggled with the soldiers for the body of Baudin , but unsuccessfully . For the moment he escaped and hastened - t o ^ be ;; : ^ Marceaii , and from there to the centre of BMi §? hb |> inglidiarouse lhe people to make a determined stand . He failed . The efforts of the few like him failed . Bonaparte was victorious ,

    Cournet was arrested , but on his way to the Police Prefecture he sfcugo'led with and overcame the officer who had charge of him , and succeeded in effecting his escape . He was enabled to reach London , where he resided until the day of , the fatal duel . Alas ! that in so miserable a quarrel he found his deathdoom ! Better far , that he had died on the Srd of December , mingling his blood with that of the brave Baudin . dEtat

    Xavier'Dubrieu , in his History of the Coup , speaks of Cournet a * man of proverbial courage , whom the ' militant Revolution can count amongst the men the most determined , the most capable , not only to combat , but to command . " These words , from a man who had witnessed Cournet ' s ' courage and ability under trial of the severest kind , indicate too plainly the heavy loss Democracy has sustained by his premature and unhappy death . . - . ¦ . V ...,

    Peace . to the patriot ; honour to the brave Republican ! Because lie stood in the breach to defend the cause , not merely of France , but of universal liberty and humanity , we join with his countrymen , his comrades , and fellow-exiles , in paying the homage of the heart to the name and memory of the brave Frederick Cournet .

    The " Protectors" Of The Insane. Bethleh...

    THE " PROTECTORS" OF THE INSANE . Bethlehem Hospital ought to be well governed It has no less than three hundred governors . The name of Prince Albert heads the list , and is followed by a long catalogue of prelates , peers , city dignitaries , and other gentlemen . Yet for all this long array of ecclesiastical and aristocratica names the report of the Commissioners of Lunacy , which we alluded to , the week before last , proves that Bethlehem Hospital has really no government at all , that the poor creatures , its inmates , are the helpless objects of the carelessness and wanton cruelty of the officials , and that no inquiries are made regarding

    their treatment , or any means taken to ensure to the patients comfort and kindly treatment . ^ - ¦ _ - _ ¦¦ It would appear that even after the exposure by the Lunacy Commissioners , the same atrocities continued to be perpetrated noon the patients in Bethlehem . Henry Stewart , formerly „ DQnt in the 50 th reeiment . has-addressed a letter to one color ant in the 50 th regimenthas- adaressra awmu u > one

    -serg e , of our daily contemp oraries , in which he states that , havmg' been appointed a keeper in Bethlehem Hospital on the 20 th of September last he witnessed so many instances of barbarity towards the natient ^ on the part of the keepers , that he was compelled to retire from his situation in disgust on the 8 th of the present month . The instances of barbarity he records are quite as disgraceful as those detailed in Lord Shaftesbury ' s report . A jeweller named

    The " Protectors" Of The Insane. Bethleh...

    Brown one day took a small piece of bread belonging to another patient , and while in the act of swallowing it was seized by the throat by one of the attendants , and compelled to disgorge the bread . Another patient named Maddison , who has served under government as a clerk in the Admiralty for upwards of 39 years , and who is under the impression that he is a King , went up to a keeper in the airing ground and demanded to be let out at the gate . The keeper paid no attention to him , when Maddison ,

    imperiously stamped his foot , and repeated his request . The keeper then lost his temper , and seizing Maddison . shook him against the wall and struck him brutally . The patients wear a canvass frock fastened by a cord round the neck . The keeper drew this cord tightly round Maddison s neck , so as to strangle him I On another occasion this same man was on some trifling pretext , thrown down , his head knocked against the stone floor , and cruelly beat and jumped upon by the brutal keeper . A patient

    named Bethell had his head laid open by a blow from one of the attendants , and the surgeon who dressed the wound made no inquiries as to how the patient came by it , receiving without question the flimsey explanation of the assaulter . Indeed the physician of the institution , Sir Alexander Morrison , seems invariably to have treated with the greatest levity the complaints of ill-usage made by the patients . Such conduct on the part of Sir Alexander Morrison was most disgraceful , and amounted to nothing less than a direct encouragement of the barbarous

    proceedings of his inferiors . Another of the cases mentioned by Mr . Stewart is harrowing in the extreme . One Barling , formerly an independant Minister at Up way , Dorsetshire , and whom Stewart had previously seen ill-used , was discovered in the bath , room , with a little piece of soap in his hand , which he had purloined . Barling , as soon as he saw the keepers enter crouched down , and threw his hands over his head to protect himself , evidencing by this that brutal violence was a thing he was accustomed to , and expected . He was not mistaken in the present instance , for the keeper at once struck him a violent blow with his fist on

    the back of the left jaw , with such force as to break off one of the patients front teeth . Having given his victim this bio w , the inhuman monster followed it up by a kick and then left him . Such is a picture of every day life in Bethlehem Hospital , a " Charity" having at its disposal £ 20 , 000 a year , and having for its managers the Queen ' s husband , and 300 of the most notabl prelates and aristocrats in the kingdom . It is worthy ot note * too , that all we have here described has taken place since the

    disclosures contained in the Earl of Shaftesbury ' s . report were made public . No manner of excuse , therefore , is left to the Governors , who are morally responsible for all that passes within the walls of the Hospital . Previous to the publication of the Commissioners' report , they were doubtless blamable in failing to ascertain whether the patients were properly treated . As managers of the institution , it was simply their duty to have done so ; but what will be thought of those , gentlemen , now it

    has been discovered that no reform , has taken , place , even alter all the < disclosures-that ;^ moral responsibility is attached to , thoselwhose names , figure as

    governors of the hospital . - And as any governor , has * jat ; all times the right to make a personal examination of the 'institution , it could be no very difficult thing for he who was desirous of doing his duty to make an unexpected visit , at night , to ascertain whether or not the officials of the institution did their duty . We have ceased to be surprised at the very un-Christ-like conduct of the Princes of the Church of Christ . ; but has not Prince

    Albert , whose name stands at the head of the Governors of Betfrlehem Hospital , been landed as one who is never ceasing ' , in his exertions for the amelioration of the condition of the unfortunate ? Why does not he insure comfort and kindly treatment to the insane inmates of that Hospital ? Most assuredly that would-be far more honourable to him than the acquisition of trumpery and childish titles , or the erection of " model houses" for the workin g classes , which he well knows , the working classes will never be able to obtain under a system which keeps them in ignorance and servitude .

    Wanted A Party. There Are Many Great Men...

    WANTED A PARTY . There are many great men who do not , achieve greatness . They ' try hard , bid high , promise fair , offer a bit of their services to ) everybody and yet are denied the opportunity of making fame and 1 power . People seem to recollect that " he who is not for us is s against us and also add to that weighty adage " he who is with h everybody is for nobody . " Eclecticism may be , doubtless is , a a very fine thing , but it will not do in politics . In that sphere , if in in no other , a man must have a creed and faith of his own . He may ay be tolerant and even unsettled in his religious opinions , and vacil-: illating in his social ideas , and yet manage to be considered as

    hav-iving a fair chance in the next world , and be received in all sorts ofs of : society , but the politician who would gain confidence had betteiver ,, like Joseph of old , leave his particolored garment behind him in in the pit he is pretty sure sooner or later to fail or get pushed into . ito . Motley ought to have gone out of fashion by this time though the the ; remembrance will always survive of what sort of folk they were ere who used to wear it .

    Jt is a great misfortune of the might-be great men ( if indeed itd itt be not a fault ) that they are misunderstood . They mean to say say j something different to that which people suppose they intend , andand : ! then very naturally quarrel with the interpretation that is put putt upon their words . " This seems to be the fate of that veteranerann economist Mr . Joseph Hume who has been indulging in a corresfres-ipondence with Mr . Collins the Editor of the Hull Advertiserseri leading to a controversy with the Times , which is vastly amusingsing * The " able editor" had , as able editors will , indited' anarticle mle iee which he propounded a scheme for forming a party—al nationaionaa party , for a less than national object—out of the Irish meraberaberr

• Citation
  • Northern Star (1837-1852), Oct. 30, 1852, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_30101852/page/9/