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    September 3, 1853.] THE L E A D E R. 853

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    TIIK NORTON CONFKSSrONH. (l[>!l Wl 'i ° ...

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    THE MANUFACTURE OF ACCIDENTS. The " Grea...

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    Charles James Napier. If It Were Merely ...

    the Allied Sovereigns . It was a bad season for the world , that time wlien Napoleon Lad to be conquered by base and vulgar men ; ^ ho , however , in checking the career of the military dictator were instruments of a divine purpose- ! Few men with sufficient ' genius or largeness of power would have liked to accept even a divine mission under such vicegerents . Enthusiasm and nationality were not requiredjfapoleon had reduced such appeals to a burlesque and a cant . A power of large military combinations , and cool-headed unflinching

    perseverance were needed , and Wellington supplied them . Napier ' soldiers remembered him also for his power of combination and large o perations , but likewise for his own brilliant daring , his energetic inspiring manner , his fervid eloquence , which made the men execute the orders with some spark of his own fire . "When the exposed condition of this country fairly made itself sensible to the bulk of the nation , it was felt that we wanted men to call forth the latent fire of English nationality in the work of defence , and a national satisfaction was felt when it was

    announced that Napier was appointed to command the district nearest to the continent whence an enemy might approach . He had already shown his thorough fitness for that particular duty by an admirable pamphlet , in . which he explamed how a militia might be raised , trained , and employed in aid of the regular army . His view immensely simplified the difficulties that had beset the subject before . The training was thought to-be a much more cumbersome process than he described it to be ; and , on the other hand , it was asked , if the

    militia were not regularly trained soldiers , how could they be of any use P By filling up the interstices between the movements of the troops ; by making the country alive with danger for the enemy , and peopling the hedges with born defenders , who could know the ground , and distract the wandering foe . The very opposite of a regimental martinet , Napier could explain all the resources of a military commander , and teach a nation how to be ready for the assertion of its independence .

    No military commander of late years has proved himself more thoroughly to be imbued Avith the necessary virtues of the soldier . His account of a soldier ' s kit , comprising very little more than a piece of soap ; the simplicity of his own lifo ; the promptitude of his own actions ; m short , his unfailing energy and portable readiness for everything that might occur , marked ium as a model to the soldier . But he was not content with victories in the field , nor with seejng to the material training and equipments of i » s armies : in India ho set himself to reform abuses—t he idleness of the officers , their

    extravagant modo of living , their habitual debt ; for jc is true that a noldicr is weak in proportion as 13 SCI » rto of honour and independent pride is woakeued ; and in our state of society these ibusos dull the sense both of honour and of pwuo . Napier worked hard to restore a ohivaljous sense to the soldier ; ho had shown that he "new the relation of the soldier to tho State ; ho waited the soldier , not as tho mere tool of Government , but as an armed patriot ; ho had taught |< uj shortest path to victory . Although sinking n tfrav-o ut a comparatively early ago , he was « '" aii ag ( , d soldier , lor ho had been half a conic i 1 1 U i tlVO sorvico - Uriablo any longer to loll n ' ,: n

    September 3, 1853.] The L E A D E R. 853

    September 3 , 1853 . ] THE L E A D E R . 853

    Tiik Norton Confkssronh. (L[>!L Wl 'I ° ...

    TIIK NORTON CONFKSSrONH . ( l [>! l ' i ° ? '( msca > confesses . If the confession s not always apply to his own actions , i (; inof wr ' ! ' l j ri ) aum P » tbnfc lie believes tlio things < tj , . »« aocjutwB another , to bo possible in tho ( j « - ^ ol Hooioty in which that other moves . In linm / i H ° ' ° « o » i"tfal disputo whieli has uno ( ! P ly cqinc before tho . public constHiitos . a bill onlv i I '" * » ofc W »»» t tho luiHbaml and wife ivfil )( ' , ; "' 1 WUU 9 (; % HO cirt 5 l (?» i ) l whieh C they 1 'X , S mTm * f ^ NoHt m m ; " h ™ « "PJ s " C ° -V , . 8 d <) o < l » . *< ' Allows that sho .,. 'i ; < -h it possible for irontlemmi Ulm , r ,. ; n .

    ¦ N or M lniH ( ( " ) . W , hi ( : Jl Hll ° "barges aKaiiiHfc Mr , (> »«¦ » , and ior tins gentleman ntill to be re-N ( ,, lI'" « o »» "ty . On tho other hand , if Mr . Avir « & t i ™ v ^ f ciMn »™*™ t . *»* i' « 'vhoiih IS i , in (> 11 ( 1 A" iav <) m " of whom m »» y ^ than- testimony , it follows that Mr . Jfortou

    who are disinterested bystanders , implies that such things are possible / and are known to be so . Whether Mr . Norton stands acquitted or not , whether the charges against Mrs . Norton are baseless , or capable of proof , does not touch the question which we are considering now . The charges are riot treated as wanting in verisimilitude ; they are freely gossipped about in society , and not received as incredible fictions .

    so to speak , taken a part in it , as well as those believes ladies in the society to which his wife and himself belong , to be capable of the conduct which he charges against Mrs . Norton , and capable of it without forfeiting their position . Indeed , the whole treatment of the case by those who have disqussed it , those who have discussed it in private as well as in public , those who have , so to speak , taken a part in it , as well as those

    On the testimony of Mrs . " Norton , we are to understand it to be possible , that in well-born and well-connected English society , there are husbands who enjoy the society of beautiful , accomplished , and affectionate wives , and yet supersede these wives in the conjugal relation in favour of others . That there inay be husbands who fabricate baseless charges against the fidelity of their wives , and then , to prove these charges , at a trial in public , can bring evidence in its own nature " unfit for publication , " and most especially unfit to be

    advanced by the instrumentality of any husband . On Mrs . Norton ' s showing , we are to suppose it possible that there may be married gentlemen amongst the superior classes of society , who can win their way into the arms and affectionate confidence , and the most sacred familiarity with women , and then drag into public court palpable manifestations of the most shocking kind to make good their accusations . In some circles less versed in etiquette , it would be supposed that any man who had once enjoyed the favour of a woman would hold himself by

    that simple fact for ever after precluded from speaking or referring to that woman in any terms but those of respect . There maybe a charge £ o be proved against her , but if it could only be proved by throwing off the sacred veil with his own hand , he would regard such proof as one utterly denied to him . But it appears that in good society in England , that species of chivalrous delicacy is not demanded . It appears from Mrs . Norton ' s talo of real life , that there may be husbands who charge their wives with infidelity , will then entreat them to return , will set their children to extort some concession from the wife ,

    will again separate , will make compacts to allow a separate maintenance only amounting to a fraction of the husband ' s income , and will then , after the bai'gain , on hearing that the wife has received some good fortune , chaffer over tho details , and abstract some portion of the duo . Wo desire not to bo misunderstood : wo arc not saying that this is Mr . Norton's conduct : what we are saying is , that , according to Mrs . Norton ' s testimony , conduct of this kind does not drive man out of " good society , " but is

    simply a question to bo determined- by evidence . Tho picture drawn by Mr . Norton is not loss remarkable or instructive . According to him , English Avivcs may bo on terms of the greatest intimacy with other gentlemen than their husbands ; may be in daily intercourse with thoso gentlemen , sitting with their arms round those gentlemen ' s necks , —nay , upon being challenged , claiming tho right of , such familiarities . According to him , it may be a , question whether ladies tlma placed will grant the last of freedoms , or reserve

    that dangerous favour , and only meanuro their accessibility by somo standard of prudential consideration . English ladies may take advantage of their husband ' s difficulties when their own signatures will be needed for Homo formal process , in order to extort a higher allowance than in just ; . EnglishIndies may tell false stories how their Jiu . slmnds neglect to provide for the maintenance of their children . ; . English ladies may afterwards come into a court of law , and by a piece ol' studied play-acting , endeavour to delude tho audience and tlie public .

    Again let us Hay , we are not hero in any degree believing ourselves to draw the portrait o ( Airs . Norton's conduct ; but wo repeat , we arc representing the portrait of conduct whioh Mr . Norton HHcribeH to a lady in good society , and which others , her friends , declare to bo bunolesH in her case , but by no iiieana declare to bo incredible in itself . It i . s all a , matter of evidonee , ami tho Booioty of which thoao diaclosuroa are

    made , is that very highest in the land which is adorned by the names of the most distinguished , in our hereditary peerage . We believe we have not gone beyond the record ; we have not strained any thing ; we have imputed nothing ; we have only repeated the imputations of others . It is more than probable that many of the actions which are made the subject of accusal might be explained in a manner far from discreditable to the persons accused .

    But in reply we say , the explanation would most likely involve the admission that many of those laws which we think it necessary to maintain , and which we pretend to be maintained , are in themselves neither absolutely perfect , nor actually observed . How vast then the hypocrisy which pretends that the average of conduct is the reverse of all this ; how contracted the wisdom which affects to treat the world in a condition so different from that which is really its own !

    The Manufacture Of Accidents. The " Grea...

    THE MANUFACTURE OF ACCIDENTS . The " Great Northern" has distinguished itself A railway company who nearly kill a lord mayor , a bishop , a baronet , and a peer , must be counted greater in the accident department than other companies who actually kill people of the common class merely . For the escape of the dignitaries was not owing to any fault in the arrangements for the collision , laid down by the company , and carried Out with zeal . The first step was to break down a coal train at Colney Hatch station , so that the line was carefully made impassable . The next was to send on from London a pilot engine , which , according to the distance and the help available could not take away the obstruction for some time . -And then before that time had elapsed the plan was to send down at its usual fearful speed the express train , and dash the devoted bishop , peer , baronet , and lord mayor rit * ht against the engine tender . It was also concerted that the danger signal should be so used that the driver could not notice it . The execution of this plan was able and decisive . The coal train was broken

    down , the pilot engine was sent on , the hands to help it were deficient , the dignitaries were closed up in carriages and hurried to their fate , the danger signal was overlooked ; and the smash into the tender created a perfect /« rore of excitement . In effect there were some disappointments . The bishop was but slightly injured , the peer entirely escaped , the baronet was cut only about the calves , but tho lord mayor was severely wounded , his nose and mouth being

    severed . To make up in part for this partial failure several persons of minor rank wero severely hurt . VVe are told that the railway officials deny that they conspired to kill the rospcctable persons aforesaid . But look at tho facts . They knew the time proper for the pilot engine to remove tho obstruction , for they knew the help it could get at Ilornsey , yet they send on tho poor bishop and his fellow-sufferers to the almost certain crash . The driver , they say , was tho best man in tho service of the

    company , and bo of course did tho work well . The legal name for this offence is an " accident . " Accidents are a British institution . Their manufacture is a part of English enterprise and toil . By a " little judicious letting alone" rails arc allowed to rust and rot , and rolling-stock to become worn , and then the uccidentH accumulate of

    themselves .- such is the power of a management inspired with tact . Another branch of the national manufacture i . s ingenious . The railway carriages are closed up ho neatlj r and tightly that foul air gathers , and babies on laps arc quietly killed . . I . ii other departments besides railways , the production of accidents progresses with great rapidity . Thus , the other day , at Manchester , a warehouse that bad been built out of smaller

    rooms , was packed with more goods-than tho floor could bear , and in time the floor fell ; unfortunately not killing any one , as the tardiness of the falling warned the ' clerks beneath to run away . Accidents from fire are generally contributed by builders . They build rows of houses without connecting balconies , or other way of exit but through the Ktrcot-door , and if a lire occur , the stylo of conntru <; tion answers itn purpose —the people are generally suflboated . One thing in the wtatistiea ol the accident trade should bo noted . A great number oftleathfl daily occurring are attributed , fitupidly , ( o ordinary personal causes , ouch ay low diot , unhealthy habits , « e-

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 3, 1853, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_03091853/page/13/