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Leader (1850-1860), 9th October 1852, Edition Country of 2, Page 13, HI 10 TIUJK ATTACK OF AUSTRIA. A siiivKR...

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      The Sufferings Of W0ma2*. " Whatever Abs...

      lessly alienated by sickness could not disarm the ferocity of personal pride . What mattered the mortified " honour" of a man , compared to the wreck of the woman ' s reason , life , and affections ? They are made of no account . jtfor are we , in the absence of all evidence either way , to presume that the transfer of the ¦ woman ' s affections was a mere caprice . Without repeating any of the stories current in the whisper which accompanies the published reports , are content ourselves with saying that we must

      not so presume . Was there any reason for the change ? and if so , what was the reason ? Did it leave the balance of blame to her , or to the " injured" husband ? Was he or she the more materially injured , the more outraged P The facts which would be the reply * to these questions seldom come out on the post-mortem inquiry ; the woman ' s case is seldom stated , far more seldom made good ; yet assuredly , in the eye of real justice , she should stand on an equality of right with the man . But the discussion of these subjects continues

      in the Times ; however superficially , the relation of woman to man is discussed in the most public journal of the world ; and the facts will gradually draw discussion beneath the surface .

      October 9, 1852.] The Leader. 969

      October 9 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 969

      How To Meet Louis Napoleon In The Channe...

      HOW TO MEET LOUIS NAPOLEON IN THE CHANNEL . M . B . " John Bull Slick" threatens us with the great floating batteries . They ought to make the naval architects of our docks restless in their beds . We have nothing to match them—nothing at once so big . , so handy , and so swift ; and if Rome was not built in a day , a " ! Napoleon , " or an Austerlitz" is not to be created and equipped in an hour .

      It is not so certain , however , that the menacing position taken up by the Emperor Napoleon the Third , in these steam war ships , whose names are almost a declaration of war , is so impregnable as it looks . Extremes meet . It is possible that the position may be " turned , " and that the advantage gained by the extreme size and concentrated strength of these batteries mayjbe overridden by the very opposite process . Great improvements have taken place in gunnery , and a suggestion is at work , just now , in active minds , which is really worthy of attention . It has been

      proposed to furnish our coast with a totally new species of naval guard—to fit out a considerable number of very small steamers of peculiar construction . In the next great conflict , it will probably turn out , that guns will project shot of great size , able to destroy anything , from a hencoop to the largest ship of the line . A single one of these guns in a manageable boat might cope even with an " Austerlitz . " It is proposed to construct tho boats on a totally new

      planmaking them very pointed ; fitting them at tho bows with a shield , the whole of the front being rendered gun-proof ; the only aperture would bo the ernbrazure of the gun , exactly at tho snout of the boat , a position in which it would be nearly impossible- ior « Uio guns of a ship to firo down the throat of a single gun ; tho solo point at which a boat advancing , Htem on , would bo vulnerable . 'Hie only man on board exposed to firo would bo tho steersman ; and oven ho might bo brought Under shelter .

      As to tho value of this suggestion wo aro not < ' »> mpetent to judge ; but wo know that those who nre , are talking of it ns if it were not a dream . ¦ 1 ho plan lias manifestly this recommendation , that it would bo more promptly brought into " 'tivo use against tho machinery which it has to ""¦ counter .

      Hi 10 Tiujk Attack Of Austria. A Siiivkr...

      HI 10 TIUJK ATTACK OF AUSTRIA . A siiivKR has niran over tho empire of Austria , Hl <" b as tho stoutest warrior may fool in tho hour victory , when he ronionibors his crimes and " ( ' < 'n inuNterinfr boforo him tho hoiih of bis vic-• iniH . ^ The sigim of this appear oven on tho sur'| ' ' . Tl " ' ^' ' im ! l <' ' ' < is ]) onaeiitof tho Times noon lt " ' <> all outward appearance , " he writes ,

      . ^'"' . ything is perfectly quiet in Austria , but ! nl () nnation , acquired from trustworthy sources , , j , j IU ! VH lm > l <> believe that such is not tho earn . ' . " ¦ \ n Hi < ruH which bo ^ ives aro significant enough . ^ ' <• Or . sf . Corrcspoiulcnz betrays tho alarm in ^ nindinfr | , | 1 ( , ( , | <) ,, rnmcv , ( f apropoH to tho Mnrri ' !¦ I i 1 »<< their ' duty , to act with unrelenting n'l j l < y against tho subversive party . " A camp

      at Pesth has just been raised—a great pageant exercise of two armies , which has cost 3 , 000 , 000 florins ; and just before it broke up there was an awkward exhibition of insubordination . The people pressing closely around the royal party , through curiosity , a General ordered a company of gendarmerie to " cut in . " He was disobeyed ; and the officer of gendarmerie , whom he arrested , was released by superior authority . In Northern Italy , however , matters are becoming still more thoroughly critical .

      " A friend who , totally devoid of Italian sympathies , has known Lombardy and its inhabitants from his early youth , assures me that the hatred of the Italians to the Austrian Government was never so deadly as at the present moment . Another person , who is perhaps as capable of giving a correct opinion on the subject as any one in Austria , expresses himself thus : — ' It is but natural that Austria should wish to be on good terms with the President , as she is well aware that should she be involved in a war with Prance , her Italian

      possessions would be lost for ever . ' The yoke now weighs infinitely heavier on the necks of the Italians than before tho revolution . Up to 1848 the greater part of the eyils complained of by the Austro-Italians were purely imaginary ; the laws were righteously observed , and justice duly administered ; Venice , Milan , and the other great Lombardo-Venetian cities were prospering . Since the revolution , the country has been subjected to military law , and to what is still more galling , the arbitrary will of the several commanders ; heavy fines , in the shape of loans , have been imposed , and trade is

      languishing . " A striking instance of arbitrary rule came to my knowledge but yesterday . It having been observed that some of the lamps in the streets of Brescia were extinguished before day-light , the commander of the city—General Susan , I believe—gave notice that if they were not kept burning until a certain hour a severe punishment would be inflicted . Shortly after a patrol found three lamps extinguished before dawn , and the city authorities to save themselves threw the blame upon the contractor , whose business it was to see that

      the lamps burned-a certain number of hours . Although it was found in this man ' s contract that he was only liable to a fine of 15 lire for each lamp which went out before a specified time , the General mulcted him in 3 , 000 lire . The man appealed to the Gubernium , which decided in his favour , but the General persisted . The Gubernium then tendered its resignation ; it was accepted , and the unfortunate contractor learned that mig ht may overcome right . One and the same person lay s down and enf orces the law at Milan , the director of the police being also commander of the

      gendarmerie . " In short , things are so strangely managed in Italy , that no one who is not either an employe or a military man can doubt that this Government is playing Mazzini ' s gamo for him . " Most assuredly they are . It is so true that the hatred of the Lombard population is increasing , and assumes a threatening aspect , that all the military measures of tho Austrians reveal their consciousness of it . After the arrests in all the Lombardo-Venetian towns , arrests are daily taking place in tho towns of tho liomaii States

      which are garrisoned by Austrian troops—Macerata , Paonza , Bologna , Forrara , Spoloto , Terni , and others . The garrisons are continually receiving reinforcements ; and wo have reason to believe that orders are given for concentration on Bologna , should any movement take place in contra ! Italy . The fortifications of Mantua and of Venice aro occupied day and night ; 22 , <)< X ) men , with batteries , aro encamped on tho road from Corno to Lorco , ready to act in Northern Lombardy . These aro the main features of tho present position .

      In tho ' meanwhile , tho incidents of this military coercion aro not such as to reconcile tho I tali an h to tho burden . In Lombardy tlie ecclesiastical property and pious establishments aro taxed two per cent ., with " rotroaetivity , " for ten years . Tho personal tax is about to bo re-established , and an increase of the tax on salt is docreed . It will bo raised to eighty centimes per pound , which is twenty per cent , rnoro than it it _ _ ____ Ik ¦ . A . ¦«

      * was before ' 48 . Thus is it that Austria del rays hor military expenses , it is an organized pillage to pay for an organized onslavemunt . Tho writer at Vienna is mistaken in saying that tho state of Lombardy was prosperous before ' 48 . Tho untruth of that Austrian report has been rofutod Jong ago in Mazzini ' s pamphlet , " Italy , Austria , and tho Pope ; " but Austria lias worked a comparative truth into that old falsehood . The otato of Lombardy before 1848

      was prosperous as compared with the state of things which Austria has now created . Fear makes Austria cruel and exacting , and each access of the ague causes her to extend her grasp ; hoping to save herself from falling , the wider is . her stride and stretch , as the strong man feels when his fatal sickness comes upon him . Englishmen should remember , that the enemy of Italy is the enemy of constitutional freedom and of England . The best field to encounter absolutism , both temporal and spiritual , is on the other side of Europe ; and none could

      be better than Italy . It is not every State which can be benefited by being made the ground of the coming battle of principles ; but it so happens that Italy is one of those States . To be a battle-field would be a curse to England , and a blessing to Italy . It would afford her the opportunity of resuming her place amongst nations . To permit the outbreak of a battle there would be a sound policy for England , and a kind policy for Italy . That great truth of statesmanship has been urged on our Government ; but if ever we had a Cabinet inclined to take so broad

      and practical a view of military statesmanship , it is not the present . The people of England , however , might do something for itself . It might , at least , lend that aid to Mazzini and the Italian patriots , for which an opportunity is offered by the popular subscription . The circular of the committee for organizing that subscription appears in another column . It is worth attention . The trifling contribution towards it might be more then an expression of opinion : a popular subsidy from this country would be a declaration to Austria ; and if it were worthy of the people , it would be material assistance to a common cause .

      How Oldham Demonstrates In Favour Of Fox...

      HOW OLDHAM DEMONSTRATES IN FAVOUR OF FOX . A PEN AND INK SKETCH TAKEN ON THE PLATFOKM . Me . Editob . —Next Saturday you will be announcing , by local reports , that a great meeting has been held in Oldham of the friends of W . J . Fox . Permit your correspondent at the reporter ' s table to give you a transcript of the proceedings as they pass . In adjacent towns , Stockport , Rochdale , and similar places , the Radicals feel quite compromised at the contingency of Oldham becoming a , Tory borough . Mr . Fox has a large party of friends in each place , and the immediate interest of the contest is spread over two comities . Distant and diffused readers , therefore , are not uninterested in what is transpiring on this spot .

      Except in the Free-trade Hall of Manchester , I have witnessed no such meeting in the hives of the metallic bees of Lancashire . The plain of heads rocks to and fro with the storm of passion , and the galleries , liko frowning hills , throw their turbulent shadow over tho crowd below . Tho proceedings have opened by the reading a fac-siniilo of Maekay's song of the " ( jiood time coming , boys , " the whole assemblage chanting the chorus . Never was that emphatic prophecy , " There ' s a good time coming , boys , " sung with such emphasis of hope , as by the Oldbain " boys . " Never was there a more astounding orchestra than that which peals forth

      from the iron throats of these untutored , iustianjacketcd vocalists . In the sharp , clear ring of the resounding , copper notes , you wonder at the animal vigour ( in which no consumptive lung can be detected ) that this hour of political interest prompts . In the resonant atmosphere of this vast crowd , you don't believe ones jot of the physical degeneracy of human natureat least , of Oldham nature . Oldham " rough heads " ought henceforth to ho known—if physiologically the junction is possible —as hearty heads . A more generic truth you might learn here . l ' oor lads , jammed between the legs of the men , lads who sleep in beds that never grow cold , who drag out their young days in mills where a flower is never seen , sintr " There ' s a . good

      time coining , boys . " I ' oor girls , whose Imddiug beauty has been blanched in hot factories , and whoso linibn have been distorted by premature toil , who Know not what refinement means , sing , " There ' s a . good time coining . " Ignonuice and imitation , and their juvenile credulity , may account for ( ho response of these poor innocent beings . Hut there were , crowded , on the platform of this meeting , pallid weavers , who looked n » though they lived in a grave -who , for the lift ) of them , cannot tell whether a quasi-penal death in tho union workhouse will not close their penal existence- in the mills—They sing , " There ' s a good time coining , boyw . " In the front ranks of ( his thickly-wedged mass , one old man , gray with years and haggard with grief ; and wretched , pinch-faced women , stooping with ago

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 9, 1852, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_09101852/page/13/