On this page

• Text (3)

  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.

  • 

    UJb LUiN N,.494. ¦°-.-i"W| - THE LEAPKB.

  • 

    PEDANTS AND PEDAGOGUES. Once upon a time...

  • 

    THE TUSCAJST ^UTAJL- . The Kill " of Pie...

• Transcript

  • 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.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    The Paper Duties—Light From Japan. A Cuh...

    , jjj _ j 2 * " * " ' passed over as a mere question of local finance , thou gh tliis be for us peculiarly mteresting . Paper asthe i-ule , is made from refuse , and atf civilised We have found out the means of making it . ? Vater which plays such a very important part m all the ' works of creation , is the great menstruum bv which this refuse is converted into-a mucilage . B Sn then be spread in t is thinnest of all possMe sheets , except loaf gold ; hx run or pressed hVto Se finest of mouldsT and be : hardened like Sone , so as to form durable ornaments in our most lasting buildings . To find this very curious art and lie important knowledge which exercising it implies almost universally practised , is m reality TsocSl p henomenon of ^ hi ghest interest . . Now to advert to the material phenomenon : is the water , let us ask , or the refuse , or the human skill—everywhere apparently similar—the ^ chief Sent for bringing about these extraordinary results , making in the end stone ( carton pierre ) out of rass and water ? To us it seems a phenomenon closely aUied to many which are now ensaoing the attention of earnest scientific inquTrlrs into natural philosophy , and which we may describe , in our unscientific terms , as changes m the powers and qualities of bodies without any chan ge in their substances other than changes in forni ° If the conversion of water and rags into stone be rightly classed with these curious phenomena , financiers might as well tax electricity or thought as paper-making . But no argument , drawn either from science or suffering , reaches them . They are callous to all the mischief they inflict . They act on a theory , and no human beings are so impenetrable to reason as theorists determined to make mankind good and happy .

    Ujb Luin N,.494. ¦°-.-I"W| - The Leapkb.

    UJb LUiN N ,. 494 . ¦ ° -.-i"W | - THE LEAPKB .

    Pedants And Pedagogues. Once Upon A Time...

    PEDANTS AND PEDAGOGUES . Once upon a time there was a Jew who united an extreme respect for the law of Moses with an ardent passion for pork . Iii his case the wish ^ the wicked alderman was realised . He had the double pleasure of eating pork and sinning . Alas ! our Jew was not a member of a corporation , nor had he the callousness 6 f a civic conscience . He was one of the weaker sort , and halted between two opinions—between jpork and piety . A pig ' s face came into his possession : how , it matters not . The temptation was too great ; the bacon was so streaky , so tender , and so prime . With trembling hands he cut ofF a slice , and placed it over the fire . The bacon frizzled gently , the savoury smell filled the room , the heart of the Jew was fflad , and the precepts of the law were forgotten . Of a sudden there was a clap of thunder , the unclean food was hastily withdrawn from the nre , and cast out as an accursed thing . The thunder ceased , and the Jew rose from his knees , lie s niffed sadly at the fading smell , gazed wistfully at the frying-pan , and then , raising his eyes to heaven , murmured plaintively , " Surely , father Moses , surely you make a great deal of noise about a very little bit of bacon . " Often and often as this saying of the pork-loving Israelite has come into our minds , we never telt its application so strongly as when we found the daily papers filled with a lengthy discussion as to whether a certain Master Vousden ought or ought not to have been birched . It is true that you must , ' perforce , " chronicle small boer , " when you have no strong ale to -talk about . Still , in this case , wo think the beer was small—uncommonly email . Meanwhile , with this apology for telling Master Vousden ' s tale at all , wo will tell it as it was . told to us . The particulars , indeed , are scanty ; much that wo should like to have known is barbarously hidden from us . For instance , we feel an extreme curiosity on tho point whether Vousden junior wore stick-ups or turn-down collars , tail-coats or jackets . Our curiosity is loft ungratifiod . Wo arc not even acquainted with the amount ot pocket-inoncy the boy received weekly , or whether lie had had tho inoaales or the whooping-cough . All wo know with certainty is , that he waB a scholar at tho King ' s School , Canterbury ; that his father was an officer in the army , and that Ins eohoohnastor ' b name was Mitchinson . One memorable morning Mr . Vousdon , senior , sent a noto to tho head master , requesting that hie son might bo allowed loavo of absonoo for tho day . On Vousdon , junior , presenting the note , Ue was told in reply that his father ' s request oould not bo granted . Unfortunately the denial , though

    positive , was couched in ambiguous language . The boy was told he could not be allowed to go " then . The whole dispute , according to Gibbon , between the Homo-otKiasts and the Homoi-ousKtstS rested on the insertion of a single letter . The whole Vousden-Mitchinson controversy arose from tne insertion of the p leonastic " then . " When young "Vousden went home after mornin « - school , he found a message from his father , teFling him to come oh to the race-course . bucli a temptation was sufficient to excuse a boy s playing truant—certainly great enoug excuse a slight amount of casuistry . " Then , " the boy ar ° ued , " might mean morning school only , and need not necessarily apply to afternoon school as well" The argument was ingenious if not conclusive . At any rate it answered its purpose . Youn" - Vousden joined his father at the races , and w ° e hope enjoyed himself . Sorrow came m the morning . On his return-to school he was summoned before Mr . Mitchinson , and informed by the indignant pedagogue that so flagrant a breach of discipline as that of being absent after leave had been refused , would be punished by a public-flogging in the afternoon . " Les . jours se Svent efne se resemblent pas . " The French proverb held good with Master Vousden . One day he saw horses whipt to make them run The next he was to be whipt himself to teach him to stop at home . Boys , too , have a natural objection to being whipt . In itself the . # operation is not a pleasant " one , and the ulterior consequences are equally unpleasant . It is a fact we have observed , whenever a grown-up person meets a schoolboy and is at a loss for something to say , the invariable question is , when were you . flogged last ? Why , it is hard to tell . You dont _ ask a casual acquaintance what is the date of the last wri * out against him . You don't question _ a Se ladytbout the number of her false teeth . You don ' t allude to dead patients m the presence of a doctor ; or to ruined clients in the presence of a lawyer . Master Vousden mig ht calculate with absolute certainty , that" any middle-aged gentleman he met for the next year or so would ask Enn when he was going to be birched next , or how many stripes he got ? or whether he could sit comfortably ? or make some other equally jocular and acceptable remark . The boy went home and appealed to his father , who was , not very unnaturally , indignant . at so severe a punishment for so - trifling an offence , if offence tfiere was . Mr . Vousden applied to the schSaster , and pleaded that the be * ^ acted in obedience to his own instructions , but in vain . The fiat had gone forth . In the school-room the authority of the parent was absorbed m that of the , teacher ; discipline must be maintained ; the word of the ' schoolm aster must ^ l ^ tho law of the Medes and Persians , which altereth not--and > short , Master Vousden must either submit to be publicly flogged or expelled the school . An an ^ y ^ oSoncTence ensued . Neither father nor Sir w " ulS give way ; and finally the boy was dismissed the school , unwlupt , impenitent a . adunregencrate . The matter was referred to the Deo ^ aSd Chapter , , in the true spirit of cathedral beadledom , confirmed the decision of the schoolmaster . Tho correspondence was sent to the papers and one morning this week yo ™ 8 / e ™*& like Lord Byron , awoke and found himself famous . ' ' Wo own that on the whole our sympathies are with the boy , and not with the master . Of lato years an exaggerated opinion of their own dignity has been too prevalent among pedagogues . Ilio story goes , ttat when William IV . went to visit WoStnTinstcr diving tho rule of tho late Dr . Busby , tho doctor refused to remove his hat in the presence of Royalty , because ho conceived his nfluonco with the ^ bo / s would be ost if once they knew there was anyone in tho . world greater than hhnsolf . The spirit of Dr . Busbv is . not extinct . Every schoolmaster now-a-days fancies hnnsoU n second Dr . Arnold , a groat moral teacher , ^ amla law-River for juveniles . Jfotty pedantry , liko Jmt of Mr . Mitchinson , only serves to lower thei tauo dignity of tho profession . At tho snmc tune , jjo own it sooms to us a matter of very small i «» POrtanoo whether Master Vousdon was flojSjnri ^ J not ; and wo sinooroly liopo wo have hoard tho last f thS youthful martyr to the eauso of learning . Tho bacon is too small for another poul of thunder .

    The Tuscajst ^Utajl- . The Kill " Of Pie...

    THE TUSCAJST ^ UTAJL- . The Kill " of Piedmont has at length received the formal ofi % r of the annexation of Tuscany to the Kingdom of Sardinia . The deputation so long expected has finally arrived at Turin and been Setod by . the Turinese with a iervour of gfe ^^ ^^^^' Sfe ^«*?* = K ? £ - SStf vtS & JSS- « S | $ fg ^^ rs ^^^^^ sf ^ Hsfefifej fsrsr ^ So EsstsEfS ^ sE The Sistaste for the Confederation would appear to nave arisen from the experience of 1848 Though it was ' at that D time warm B ly « reeted by * rncSt wLiou ? dSP CSSel . && i ^ S Ei >« ^ r ^ s ^ = Au teiS domination - ^ . . ¦ 'T ^ cS mfe * r ISt ^ c ^ SSaS f . -S ^ S ^ Snn ^ S th ^^ SS S ^ K ,. national policy of the petty princes , who & e return SfS ? Suitorily .-AWt e « l thrones is strongly opposed by their former- subjects , all . seem- to rSS a Confederation utterly fif ^ f ^ £ m-Psent The movement which tends to SsSooS ^ ris TconSuaf d e cSy , corruption , diminution , and ITSSTduall y ££ J £ * « StS ! im ^ rovhS ' its internal condition , increasing its 3 an ^ military resources and becoming ; more and more Italian . This ^ ™ y ** $ ^ ££ ss smsfszss * srsaa ^ s-srs cent ? e o " the ItaUan union , to win credit , respect , sferraft fflfi ^¦ rsr' ^ sESKagas the fifteenth century , be looked upon as the ef 1 SJ ^^^^& A ^ -f $ Itali r poweiv In the seventeenth century shebegan o bHonsidered the legitimate ropresen at . vo £ the whole nation , and openly assumed the J ^™ ° the Italian cause . This may be l °° * ° y upon mere ambition and state V ?^^ ti ^ policy , events a commendable ambiuon , aml ^» w ' J £ The thought , the ^ " ^ I ^ JJ ^ Eminimuel dencewaa unceasingly » OU 11 S"Y " * , ruin by rinlibert , by Victor Amadja 11 , a da jr Charles Emmanuel , who made va o ^ troatiod with France , ^ ' ^ J ^ . Hut indenttaininont of Italian » d ^ ndeucl ^ poiuluuoo s \ P"C J rexer o 'uul tl . e Italians copied ^ it . out eHoHm ^ emo rcciato the oi ibnnor days , did not Buinoi ^ y u ^ th 1 ) ni Cbtedlv tS ' ttn / ntcHt and most important I ^ P ^ S

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 10, 1859, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10091859/page/15/