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    • j . . . ¦ .- .. ¦".. 1058 THE IEADER, ...

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    GUY FAWKES' DAY: BIGOTRY REPROVED FKOJt ...

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    ACCIDENTS AND SUDDEN DEATHS. A very alar...

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    Vto Insurance Office Would Grant An Insu...

    Lord Shaftbsbdbt has been entertaining his workpeople in a harvest home , none the worse because he took them to church ; and the service was none the worse because they marched to it to the sound of music . To descend , the Board of Works has beea presenting to Sir Behjamis Ham an inadmissible proposition—a plan of sewage inconsistent -with the Act of Parliament , and frightful to Erith , trho has "b y deputation | Htt » teste « L The Board , & ftict , proposes to discharge the drainage of London right into the face of Eritli !

    Robson , the Crystal Palace swindler , has been convicted and sentenced to twenty years' transportation . He was sketching likenesses while the evidence wasconvicting him , -find he stepped out ¦ with a jaunty air to have his head cropped . Chakpentier , too , has been seized , for the grasp of the offended Rothschii / d can reach even into the heart of the American Republic The North-Western Railway has been offending

    against the laws of life , this time , however , with some excuse . The collision of an express and a broken-down coal train proved , experimentally , that a new plan which the company has established , of signals all along the line , is not quite sufficient to prevent accidents . A little change of the system—probably checking each train from passing a signal-post until the train before it should have passed two signal postswould . be effectual .

    We look abroad again to those far lands whicli will not readily interfere with our European politics . In the United States , we have in the accession of Indiana , a new guarantee of Buchanan ' s election . At the Cape of Grood Hope Sir Geokgb Grey has gone to the frontier , in the hopes of subduing the Kafirs by diplomacy- But- even he ¦ will find the Black man too obstinate and intractable for his purpose . From Madeira they report a clean bill of health , and they wish us , most emphatically , to understand that the island is as salubrious and nxore cleanly than ever , arid its wine as excellent as ever . A panic fear may prevent those invalids , to whom the climate is a blessing , from conferring on the islanders that visit which insures to them a livelihood in

    ministering to the visitors' wants . And a mere delusion about the vine produce may prevent that demand for Madeira which , while adding a variety to the wine-table , will add a mite to the .-harrow means of the Madeirans .

    • J . . . ¦ .- .. ¦".. 1058 The Ieader, ...

    • j . . . ¦ .- .. ¦" .. 1058 THE IEADER , [ No . 346 , -Sattodat gj ^^^^ Z ^ H ^ ' *

    Guy Fawkes' Day: Bigotry Reproved Fkojt ...

    GUY FAWKES' DAY : BIGOTRY REPROVED FKOJt IHE MANSION HOUSE . A tine sermon on tolerance was preached last Saturday , and again on Monday , at the Mansion House , by our Israelitish Lord Mayor . On the first of those days , Mr . William . John O'Connell , kinsman of the late Daniel O'Connell , attended at the justice room , and , after some preliminary observations , said : — " I do not know whether your Lordship has ever witnessed a most foolish exhibition which generally takes place in this country on the 5 th of November . If the persons who indulge in such absurdity were to confine themselves to tlio representation of Guy Fa-wkes , or any miserable diabolical conspirator of that description , I certainly should not have troubled your Lordship ; but , when I witnessed on the 5 th of November last the effigy of a Catholic bishop with Iris pontificalibus , with a large cross upon his back , paraded about the town in the most insulting manner , I consider that that ia an indignity to those loyal subjects of her Majesty who profess the Catholic religion , and I am perfectly satisfied that the period has now arrived wlien bigotry and intolerance should be for ever fcuried in the trenches before Sebastopol , where it is known that the Protestants , the Presbyterians , and tho Catholics , were fighting with the most indomitable bravery foot to foot and shoulder" to shoulder , and that their blood flowed . in tho same stream to uphold the honour and glory of this great country , and to do away for over with all sectarian differences .

    The bravery exhibited by tho Catholic soldiers at the Alma and Inkennnn , with their Protestant brethren , never can bo forgotten . His Royal Highness the chivalrous Duke of Cambridge witnessed their courage and phared their dangers , and , I am perfectly sure , would Uigh \ y disapprove any insult being offered to their religion . His Excellency tho Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland , than -whom a more dignified or high-minded Englishman never entered the portals of the Castle of Dublin , or represented Majogty in my nativo land , apolco of th « m in tho most liberal and handsome manner at tho grand display the other day in Dublin , when a dinner was given to four thousand Crimean heroes , irrespective of religious consideration by tho Protestants and the Catholics of the XriBk metropolis . " The 3 peaker then alluded , to the Catholic Boldiera

    of Prance rushing to the assistance of our troops at Inkerrrtan , arid proceeded :- — " My Lord , as you belong to neither denomination of creeds that X have mentioned , I earnestly appeal to your

    lordship to throw out a suggestion which I have no doubt will be taken up by the police authorities and the magistrates generally of this great and pofMMfftd metropolis , and that an end will be put to this ridiculous and barbarous exhibition—at least that portion of It that putsfbr \ var 4 the effigy •<) £ & Catholic bishop . I thank you * lordship for the kfeftd indulgence which you have sho ^ tt to rate Upon this decision . I have lead "Wtth great satisfaction your admirable decisions during your year of office , and I must be permitted to say ,-without flattery or egotism , that if the aslies of the great Lyeurgus could be collected from the briny waves and formed into man again , and were to preside in the chair which your Lordship so worthily and so honourably occupies , he could not have acted with greater ability or more decided impartiality than have characterized the whole of your actions during your Mayoralty . "

    A considerable amount of applause followed the conclusion of Mr . O "Council ' s speech ; and , when this had subsided , the Lord . Mayor , ¦ who was sensibly moved , and who received Mr . O'Connell with marked courtesy , replied : — ' " I thank you for the compliment you have just paid me . I may say that it has been my anxious desire , and I believe it is the desire of every magistrate of this metropolis , so to act in the administration , of justice as that our conduct may merit public approbation . " With regard to the more immediate subject of your appeal to me , it is one that depends more upon public taste and public feeling than upon any jurisdiction I can exercise . It is very difficult in any country to get rid of traditional

    customs . The annual exhibition of the effigy of Guy Fawkes has come down to us from the time of James L , when party feeling between Catholic and Protestants tan very high , and the conspiracy to blow up the Hotise 3 of Parliament Iia 3 always been held by historians to have been a Roman Catholic conspiracy . The burning of London in the year 16 GG was attributed to the same source , and it-is only recently , through the exertions of the present City Solicitor , that the libellous inscription upon the Monument on Eish-street-hill , attributing the fire of London to the Roman Catholics , was by order of the Court of Common Council erased . "We cannot , however , conceal from ourselves that all our party struggles at almost every period have been quickened by feelings

    arising out of a presumed Catholic or Protestant ascendancy . I , however , regret extremely that the exhibition of Guy Fa ^ rkes , instead of being a mere memorial of a treasonable plot , should have lately assumed the offensive form of which you so justly complain ? that the figure , instead of being the figure of an abominable conspirator , Guy Fawkes , should be exhibited as an individual dressed in the habiliments of a Roman Catholic ecclesiastic , bearing oh his breast the emblem which all Christians are bbund to honour and to worship . Such conduct must be obnoxious to every one , and most offensive and painful to members of the Roman Catholic communion . I lament that any custom should be kept alive in our times , even among boys , calculated

    to give pain to any single individual . I hope , therefore , that your representation will be conveyed through the public press , and that it may have the effect of modifying this annual exhibition , if it does not altogether get rid of it . If this cannot be accomplished , let us , at all events , have a Guy Fawkes ivhom boys should only recollect as a wricked traitor who sought to blow up the King and Parliament , and not taught to mix up -with it anything calculated to wound the feelings of their Roman , Catholic fellow-subjects . How desirable it is that ire should all act together upon a comprehensive principle , that we should not be prone to condemn whole communities on account of tho faults or the frailties of a few ! I venture to say , as you have alluded to the

    subject of the French and of the Irish Catholics nnd Protestants all fighting side by side , ns I trust they always will , for tho honour and glory of their common country , that you might have included the Jews . There- are a considerable number of Jewish soldiers in tho French arniy . In France , there is a conscription to whicli ail persons are liable . Tho army is not composed of volunteers as it is in this ' country , but every one is there liable to military service . Of late years , there have been a great many Jews in the ranks of tho French army . A few days ago , I had transmitted to me from Constantinople an account of a special funernl service , which was attended by the Turkish and French authorities and held in ono of tho synagogues at Constantinople , in honour of

    tho French Jewish soldiers who hud fallen during the campaign in tho Crimea . Now , I hope that , -whatever the religious community to which wo belong , -we shall over be united in ono common feeling of loyalty to our country , and of attachment to the Government that protects us . We ought to try to promoto tho public good by extending kindly and benevolent feelings towards eacli other , and to avoid anything which mny wound the susceptibilities , or ridicule the religious peculiarities of any class of our fellow-subjects ; and if your representations have tho effect of mitigating or reducing tlio nuisance of Guy Fawlces' day , I shall truly rejoice . I am sure that this representation will bo convoyed to tho public through the ordinary organs , and I trust that it may liavo tho effect which you so ardently wisli . "

    These observations also were loudlv innin , 7 " . find Mr . O'Connell , after expressing hisVigS ^ the kindness and courtesy of the LordMavor h * \ and withdrew . * ' Ovr w

    Of course , these matters coukl not pass whlmi , * arousing the ire of the bigots ; and one of tint i « class presented himself on Monday , in the rw- 5 l a Mr . Clark , and said he wished to answer some « n ? servations made by Mr . O'Connell / and calculated t affect thecharactei-of the boys and population of tl £ kingdoms The Lord Mayor urged some objectS to the justice room being turned into a dubathV H but consented to hear Mr . Clark after the cfn 5 business . The gentleman heroically kept his Srwf during the morning , and then again came War ? when the Lord Mayor said that , " if he ( Mr Claris had been a little boy , and wanted to say somciMni on behalf of Guy Fawkes , lie could hear , hi " , » K that lie must not attack the Eoman Catholics ' Mr-Clark then continued : — "' r *

    "I wish to say that there was one point wbicli Hr O'Connell improperly omitted to touch upon ; for your Lordship and all here must remember that , before the year 1850 , nothing was exhibited by the boys and lads but the effigy of Guy Fawkes , and in that year the Roman Catholics insulted Protestant feeling , not only on the 5 th of November , but daily , -when the Roman Catholics took their stand in the face of tie law ' s of the country and the proclamation of the Queen ;" .. ';'¦ The Lord Mayor thought all this did not justify insulting the Roman Catholics . But the undaunted Mr . Clark , solicitous for the character of the boys returned to the charge after this fashion : — ' ¦

    .. : " Ouly a few days ago , I saw a placard in whicli it -was stated that a new Catholic Bishop was to be consecrated W the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster and the Bisliop of Southwark , and , if the men and lads of this country take the trouble to read , and know thexe are no such bishops allowed "b y law , can you le surprised that they nkiU it tlieir business to vindicate the law which the law officers of ike Crown neglect to do ?" The Lord Mayor thought Mr . Clark ' s argument tended to the justification of lynch law ; and , after a little more discussion , the doughty champion of juvenile Protestantism left the scene of combat , first bestowing a knightly compliment to his opponent .

    The 5 th passed off without any very marked features . Some large Guys were carried about as usual , and at night several bonfires were kindled , and there was much ' squibbing-. ' Some enterprizing Protestants , having been driven by the police i ' rom the summit of Tower-hill—a favourite place .. for those autos-da-fe—adjourned to a piece of waste ground at the end of Farringdon-street , and there vindicated their religion with mucli -warmth and brilliance , undisturbed by misbelieving constables . It does not appear whether Mr . Clark was present ; but no doubt he was . Large crowds collected , and two boys and a woman -were severely burnt by fireworks , for the honour of tlie Anglican Church . Some -very riotous proceedings have taken place at Urighton , and several persons have been iined .

    Accidents And Sudden Deaths. A Very Alar...

    ACCIDENTS AND SUDDEN DEATHS . A very alarming collision took place on Monday afternoon , on the London and North-Westem Hallway , about a- mile and a half north of King's . Langley . It is thus described in tho daily papers : —¦ " Between ihrec and four o ' clock p . m ., the engine of a coal train on its journey to London , became suddenly disabled and stopped near a place called Nasli-mills , about midway between tho stations of Boxmoor and King's Langlcy . The express , -which was travelling up to town behind on the same line , at its usual high rate of speed , ran right into it while in this state of suspense , and in the collision tlio break van of the coal train was smashed to atoms , and

    the engine of the passenger tram thrown ofF the line , but not overturned . The carriages of tho passenger train were also injured , but not so seriously as might have been apprehended ; a few of the buffers and nxle guards were torn off or dislocated , and the coitpd of one carriage was crushed ; but , Btrango to say , with the exception of tho engine , no part of th < 3 train left the line of rails . The whole of the passengers immediately after the collision wcro naturally more or less in a state of alarm nnd excitement . Mr . Donaldson , the landlord of the Swan Inn , Homel Ilcmpstead , who was in tho immediate vicinity at the time of the accident , nnd tvho , with others proceeded ut once to tho spot to render what assistance lie could , describes tho pitiable condition of the traveller . ' ' ,

    especially the Indies , most of whom had been removed from tlio carriages and wcro lying , some on each Fide of tho lino , and sonic in an adjoining Held , while others kept tlieir seats or sat outside on the footboards of tho carriages . Many of them woro bleeding from tlio - ontuscd wounds they had sustained in the head and fnee by tlio collision , nnd the eyes of others worci bruised nuil discoloured . Medical assistance was . soon despatched to them . They were also under great obligations to Jr . Dickinson , tho eminent pnper-maker of . Abbotshill , who resides in tho imincdiato neighbourhood , for wine and other comforts which he caused to bo diBtributed among them , and whose workmen lent thoir aid in the em J " gency . About a qunrter past four o ' clock , Mr . StubM . tho Btationninstor at ¦ Wat ford , received a telegrapuic

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 8, 1856, page 2, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_08111856/page/2/