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Leader (1850-1860), 2nd June 1860, Edition 2 of 2, Page 7, THE RELATIONS OF LABOUR. . O F all the s...

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      The Re-Appearance Of The Eastern Questio...

      the Emperor of the French to join us in the war against itussia , and he alone , o f all the combatants , derived any benefit from the bloody struggle . He forced himself into the position of European arbiter , and strengthened immeasurably his hold upon France . 33 ut he has quite as greedy an appetite for the inher itance . of the sick man as either Austria or Russia . Egypt , which by the Suez Canal he is already attempting to appropriate , lias long been an object of French ambition * a desire not the less powerful that its gratification would be a sore blow and a grievous mortification to England . The Emperor , however , does not care to precipitate the crisis . It is enough for him that the sick man does not get strong ; so

      long as he remains in a state of debility , so long is there ground for interference ; so long can French influence make itself felt in the East , and the Emperor share with his brother of Russia the allegiance of the Sultan ' s subjects . There is nothing , therefore , to surprise us in the efforts now made by Russia to practically annul the Treaty of Paris , or in the connivance which France lends to them . When Prince GoiiTScn . vKOFF summoned the Ambassadors of the Great

      Powers to deliberate upon the condition of the Christians in Turkey , and to intimate tlie necessity under which he felt of taking immediate steps in their behalf , he was but acting a farce , the details of which had been arranged between himself and M . Tiiouvenel . The despatch ascribed to the latter only assures us of what the known understanding between the two Powers rendered most probable . M . Tiiouvenel regrets , indeed , that Russia has prematurely moved in the matter , but he neverthelessfully associates himself with-the step Prince Gqrtschakoff has taken / and lends the weight of his own personal experiences at Constantinople to support the allegations of ill-treatment of the Christians made by that ' - ' minister .. ' Now that there is some truth art these allegations is more than probable . The Hatthumavoun granted by the Sultan in 1856 , effected a complete

      change in the legal position of the Christians ^ It put them upon a footing of equality with the Mussulmans , _ and raised them from slaves to citizens ; but its execution was necessarily intrusted to-functionaries '' who were not animated by the benevolent spirit of-their-TOasfer , and : who cared nothing for the political considerations which guided his ministers . The whole system of government in Turkey is corrupt . It is but a varnish of civilization over a mass of barbarism—an administration shared between lying , cheating Greeks , and Turks who have not forgotten how to bastinade and bowstring , whilst they have learned to give and take bribes . No wonder , therefore , that the promise of the rescript of 1856 has not yet been fulfilled . What could be expected from a Government the head of which changes every two or three months , and owes his elevation mainly to a -

      seraglio intrisme ; WlItr ^ tlrenpfaTrtats-htrve-trtenure-eqvvall y-uneerseraglio intrigue ; WlItr ^ tlre ^ aTrh ^ htrve-tv-tenure-eqvvally-uneertain , and must make enough during it to recoup themselves for the price paid for their office ? M . Tiiouvenel has , therefore , ground for saying that the Hatt-liumayoun will remain a dead letter unless the Porte changes its system of government ; but such a change is not the work of a year or two , but of a generation . ¦ But it is a gross exaggeration to represent the condition ot these Christians as unbearable , and a little knowledge of them precludes the possibility of feeling much sympathy for their pretended , tribulations . They are themselves the causes of most of the disorders and tumults of which we hear , and their religion is ,

      for the most part , a mere political cloak . Greeks , Armenians , and Latins , they fight first in th e bosom of their own sects about their bishoprics and patriarchates ; fight with each other for pre-eminence and power , and then join to hunt the unfortunate minority of Protestants , whom England may nominally protect , but for whom , having no political designs to which she might make them subservient , she takes none of the pains which Russia and France do for their respective emissaries . Russia , urging the wrongs of the Christians , seeks to recover the ground she has lost by the destruction of the protectorate assumed by virtue of the treaties of Kainardji and Adrianoplc , and occupying that position to have again the right to interfere whenever it of her

      appears profitable in Turkish affairs ; France , with objects own , comes forward in right of her Latin clients ; and together they will , if possible , bully the Sultan , out of . concessions to the Christians , which will be so many transfers of his sovereign rights to his attentive allies . The difficulty in their way is that the interference they propose will be a direct infraction of the Treaty of Paris . That treaty recognised the full right of the Sultan to regulate the condition of his subjects according to his own views , and denied to other Powers the right to interfere between him and them . This stipulation , if it could have been enforced , would have been the best guarantee possible of Turkish independence ; but England is the only Power disposed to adhere to it , and slio

      would not be Avilling to maintain it single-handed against France and Russia united . Prince Gortschakoff and M . ThouvexeL will , therefore , in all probability , have their way . The Porte will go on squandering all the money it can lay hold of upon the seraglio and the favourites outside it ; its financial position will get worse and worse ; whilst , upon one pretence or other , the French and Turkish ambassadors will arrogate to themselves more and more domination , the English ambassador being obliged to take much the same course in order to counteract , as far as possible , the mischief they would do to the interests of his own country . " the king ' s horses and all the king's men won't set Humpty Dumpty up again . " The duty and the interest of England is to strive that his place may be occupied by a new and real sovereign , and not divided between France and Russia , or any puppets they may attempt to set up .

      June 2, I860.] The Leader And Saturday A...

      June 2 , I 860 . ] The Leader and Saturday Analyst . 515

      The Relations Of Labour. . O F All The S...

      THE RELATIONS OF LABOUR . . O F all the subjects misunderstood for many generations , Labour was , until lately , the one that suffered most ; properly interpreted , it is a beneficent provision of the Creator , though mankind were for a long time disposed to regard it as a curse , A misreading of the Mosaic annals lay with many at the root of the misapplication . Imposed , as was thought , as a penalty on Adam , the necessity of labour was quoted as the result of a malediction . The ground was cursed , because man had fallen . It was not generally understood that the Hebrew words for cursing and blessing were the same , and simply derived their

      specific meaning from their relations with other words in the sentence . It might as well have been rendered , " blessed be the ground , " as ^ cursed ; " the word simply meant the Divine appointment . It was ordained that man should by Avork redeem his station in the universe ; but whether that ordination should turn out to be a blessing or a curse to the individual depended ^ entirely on Jus disposition and circumstances . And so the fact in human experience has been , notwithstanding the theory of those who have misunderstood the text of the sacred record . — ~~

      The prevalence of this misapprehension lies at the root of many a social evil . Regarding Labour as a curse , whole classes of men have endeavoured to relieve themselves from its infliction , avoiding it as a disgrace , and throwing the burthen of it on other classes that suffered by their oppression . Thus the labouring man has been looked upon as a pariah , and the idle man has claimed to be considered as an aristocrat in his own right . Both have been thrown into false positions , and the world into much confusion . Wrong and evil have grown and propagated , with an interchange and concurrence of action that has establtshedHteelf-as ^ he-vfrr ^^^ of old writers , while confessing that the estate of the world

      depended on the exertions and skill of the artisan , nevertheless denied him a place at the council , or any share in the government of the State . The result of all this misapprehension was just what might have been expected . " Give a dog a bad name and hang him . " But worse came of it than even this . The labourer was not only a victim , but gradually began to share in the general belief that he was less worthy than his masters , His spirit was cowed , and he acquiesced in liis ill-treatment . He was subdued to the very quality that opinion assigned , and became degraded not only in His labour itself

      his own esteem , but in his life and conduct . was undervalued , ill-paid for , and its resources among the most precarious that a man could depend on as the means of subsistence . And these when obtained wore impatiently dissipated , and expended in the support of vicious habits ; not husbanded , except in some few and rare cases , for the future benefit of the recipient . Under these circumstances , and subject to the jealousy of the classes above and under , and even of individuals of his own class , the labourer was a fated man , who felt it in vain to struggle with " the sea of troubles , " which might be increased but could not be diminished by his resistance .

      Such has been the relation of the lords and labourers of society , until a very recent period . It has been regarded simply as a relation between the Rich and the Poor . We may recollect that Burkk in an eloquent passage repudiated tins distinction . Indignantly he declared that the Labourer and the Pauper were distinct , and challenged the contrary assertion as unconstitutional and immoral . There caii be no doubt that Buuke ' s indignation was rightly grounded , and did him great honour as a man and a politician : ' But it is to be feared that ordinary minds still continued to regard the possessors of wealth as composing a distinct clnss , and the industrious aspirants that might _ become wealthy by perseverance as members of another class , less favoured by Providence , and less influential in the State—in fact , as included in one and the same category of poverty , until they had worked

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), June 2, 1860, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_02061860/page/7/