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    ON THE CULTIVATION OF FLAX * VIII. We ar...

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    * Vide- Leader, JW UO, Llii, lb'., lli; ...

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  • 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.

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    Secondly, That All Men, Qualified By Bod...

    technicalities , they really thmk alike . They together constitute an oligarchy—a special caste which possesses the official government of England ; and , in reality , they are unitedly fighting _too-ether against that national dictation which they read in newspapers and hear from Radicals , which they defer to after long resistance ,, but which " being unorganized , " and visible only in " vile rabble" at election times , they unaffectedly

    despise . It is all very wrong and very melancholy ; but so long as these tilings are , let those who seek Parliament remember that they are enrolling themselves , not in a popular assembly whose heart beats with the pulse of the nation , hut in a close club , perfect in itself , nearly independent of out-of-doors verdicts or individuals , aad therefore deciding absolutely the fates of its own members . If you want to revolutionize the

    House , work away irom without ; but , being a member , make a proper estimate of its composition and constitution , identify yourself with it , labour with it and for it , and , in a word , manage it . Think first of your party ; but secondly always of the House ; and when it is thus seen that you are not there to air your individuality , you will cease at once to be regarded as a novus homo whom it would be dangerous to trust and absurd to listen to . The House of Commons

    Club looks , in fact , with suspicion at every new member who is not one of the oligarchy- —as an intruder — a possibly hazardous man , who may work like Hume or talk like Roebuck ; and it is this suspicion which every new man , not a silent member by right of birth or position , has in the first place to overcome . As I have said in a former paper , the representative of a large constituency , looking to his re-election , cannot satisfy their ignorant expectations , without appearing frequently in debate , to reiterate his

    stale opinions ; and , as I have also hinted before , this might be done without long speeches , without insulting the club , and without endangering personal position . But it is a great out-of-doors error to suppose that the club itself regulates its approval in proportion to display . It is not so in the world , and it is not so in the House ; and , indeed , in the House , the taciturn , careless , back bencher , who never appears on the stage , is often the teacher in rehearsal—the prompter—felt , not seen — when the curtain is up . For instance , Mr . Cornewall Lewis had more to do with tbe

    government of Lnglnnd , in Lord John Russell ' s time , than Sir George Grey ; and Mr . Henry Baillie and Lord Lonsdale—two silent mennow affect Lord Derby and Mr . Disraeli moro than the rest of the cabinet put together . Fox had a foolometer , upon whom ho tried his _measures , just as Moliere experimented with his plays upon his cook ; and in that sense , in a 'lub , such as tho House of Commons , the " public , " may be in reality more truly _represented by a Colonel Sibthorpe than by a Colonel Mure . The leader of the House is seldom the most , intellectual man iu the House ?—the leader ° f the party is not at all necessarily the greatest thinker , best talker , or profoundest writer , in its ranks ; and , among the file , rank is accorded not ; it all in reference to what " literary men" call "dclleet , and not at all in reference to acquired _K'Mienil knowledge . Again , fo vise illustrations , » ,, _' . ' T " ' ourd was less a , power than Mr . William Williams ; Lord Mahon than Mr . Christopher . 1 " flu < world wo laugh and sneer at tliose who don f " _jr ( , |; on" much as they be our betters

    , may '" : ill except "getting on ; " and why not in the _^ _•^ fephe ' r . sClubP y 1 have used the word " rehearsal" several lines —|( , _f ) 1 U , ( , Xplaiu my meaning . I have _^' _. _MMCHfed w | _, al , is the real constitution of the ¦ _bmso of Commons ; ami it suggests itself that ' _^ _'"' y member of that , House is perfectly aware 01 'be precise facts . 1 think they are " the first _"rtnembl y <> r gentlemen" iu Europe—patricians , " ° < l <>< ibf , but , patriots , too , whose blood leaps "' ° " gli their limbs wlien there is occasion , as ' >» gh they never had trafficked away small 11 a" " "' perquisites—and who will ( about midnight ) ""'or madly noble _Henfiinents . But . whether

    " ' . "of the first gentlemen in Europe , this is cer" . that they are a cleverer , shrewder , more in 10 MW H ( ' 0 < m " ,, mi 1 y ° u wil 1 ( l , l ( l _^ nowhere ii ' - , '' _}' . iln ( _*~" _II () UH ( ' of Commons existence being I , ! , j - _, _' _, _H _, mOM , ; magnificent of educations , in _^• _lehiug the relative importance of men anil l ' n . i ' _?" ' UU ( _* 1 ' ' nmHOU w' _> y ' _'' o ordeal of a b ,.. HIm ( 'ch ' so greatly dreaded , is simply ¦« _auao you know the sort of men who aro your

    Secondly, That All Men, Qualified By Bod...

    auditors ; keener men than are in the whole world beside—accustomed to measure intellect by its exact results on the world , and capable of seeing at a glance through any pretence that may be offered by a Virgin orator . The Demosthenes of the public house may have a profound contempt for the back bencher member of the House of Commons who never talks . But where would the Demosthenes be if the back bencher met him

    in society—at a railway meeting—at Quarter Sessions—at the bar—in the sweating parlour of a banking-house ? These clever gentlemen who are only chorus when the curtain is up—when the Speaker is in the chair—the " Strangers" plentiful—the Reporters arrayed—the ladies aghast —are as potent as Disraeli , and as powerful as Sir James , when they come across one another at dinner-parties , in the smoking-room , at committees , or country-house gatherings . For their own reasons they are insignificant on the stage , where they submit to the necessities of discipline . But who would recognise Mr . Glyn of the House , in the Mr . Glyn who sits chairman twice a year over a noisy meeting in a Roman Doric room ten times as handsome as " the

    House , " and who manages to a marvel the finance of the " North Western ? " Who would suppose that the Mr . William Brown , who never speaks in the House , is the same Mr . William Brown who , at Liverpool , regulates hundreds of vessels , thousands of employes , and millions of merchandise ? Who would suppose that that quiet Mr . Walter , universal in his knowledge , and because so wise , so very temperate , " leads " the "leading journal ? " This club is by no means to be estimated by reference to its own chiefs : a Russell or a Disraeli are selected and

    put first ; not because they are the first men in all respects , but because they have , with most time , the most serviceable special capacity as mouthpieces of large bodies . The House , then , being a crowd of the cleverest , keenest fellows going , position in it is not dependent solely upon public appearance , but upon the impression produced off the stage , in private society , in the smoking room , in committee . M . P . ' s are gossips : they know everything of each other ; they canvass one another ; they estimate one another ;

    and , if the hon . gentleman who has talked very loud , and perhaps very well , on the stage , has not also been , a hit in tbe green room , his success is very incomplete and partial ; and the applause of his local journal will but slightly compensate for the sneer he will detect in the lobby . There arc some men in the House who may count friends in the whole ( 556 of their colleagues , —Lord John , for one ; Mr . Labouchere , for another ; and there is no accident in such instances , —it is the result of a deliberate persevering system of gaining good opinions . There are certain men with whom

    reserve tills better than , cordiality ,- —as with Sir Robert Peel ; but lesser men will Jose everything if they neglect the art of producing favourable impressions . Fenelon , in his account of Cicero , says , " when he began to dedicate himself more earnestly to public business , bo thought that while mechanics knew tho name , tho place , Ihe use of every tool and instrument they take in their hands , though these things are inanimate , if would be absurd for a statesman , whose : functions cannot be performed but by _nutans of men , to be negligent in acquainting himself wi ( lithe citizens . He therefore made it his

    business fo commit to memory not only their names , but fhe place of abode of those of greater note , what friends they made use of , and what neighbours were in their circle . " Certainly the " great favourite" class of men in society owe something fo a natural amiability , but at least fhe unsympathetic men might learn the alphabet , tho letters , of the language Ihey have to read ; might master fhe House in detail as well as collectively . No orator succeeds who does not know his audience : and the . House of Commons is cruel to those whom it does not like . Its likes anil dislikes have little lo do with the

    polities ol the ; object . Mr . Jtumo , the must plainspeaking of Radicals , has been for twenty years the most popular man in an oligarchical I louse ol" Commons , and not because , but in spite , of his public appearances , which have beeu , first , " unbusiness-liko , " as having no party at bis back , and further , have been slightly too numerous , although , as Charles Bullor said , " there is never any monotony about him . " Mr . Henry Drummond never rises but to sneer at all public virtue and all political i > rotenco ; but ho is attentively

    Secondly, That All Men, Qualified By Bod...

    listened to and laughed at , not that the wit is so acute , but that so many have met him out at dinner , and enjoyed the sample in the bulk . To point a contrast , it is enough to say that Mr . Bright carries his inexorable detestation of Toryism into the lobby , whence he is shunned in the green-room and hooted on the stage . A great blunder , for Radicalism cannot do without Mr . Bright .

    These suggestions will show to new M . P . ' s . the wisdom of a long study of the House out of thc House , before they venture on the pursuit of the Speaker ' s eye . A stranger , who is not known and ascertained privately , has no chance of being heard , he is only stared at . But also , before rising to speak , the man who means to win should have come to a conclusion as to what modern House of Commons Oratory amounts to , should catch the knack of the arena , and talk in the tone of the place . Next week you shall have my " Hints" on that theme .

    Ar01504

    On The Cultivation Of Flax * Viii. We Ar...

    ON THE CULTIVATION OF FLAX * VIII . We are sorry to be compelled by circumstances to issue our remarks on tbe culture of llax in rather an unconnected manner . We had hoped ere this to have informed our readers of tbe precise nature of Mr . D 011-lan ' s patent for the dry preparation of the fibre . This we cannot yet do , for the following reasons : —The patent was sealed in June last , and it was scarcely granted wben tbe inventor , a person far advanced in life , and with a constitution weakened by anxiety , died

    after a short illness . The specification had been fortunately lodged previously to Mr . Donlan _' decease , and bis widow will , therefore , as we trust , reap the full benefit of her husband ' s labours ; but it will not , we fear , be made public much before the expiration of the period allowed under the patent laws , V 5 z ., six months from the date of the patent . This is said to _accord to Mr . Donlan and his heirs the sole right of extracting the wood of flax from its fibre by the dry preparation . The principle is , in fact , said to be patented ; and if

    so , after all we have said in its praise , we hope that tbe specification will describe some cheap and efficient machinery available for tbe ordinary farmer , if not , we shall have some reason to complain of a law which will have tbe effect of _impeding thc progress of our clever agricultural machinists , as far as llax machines are concerned , for fourteen years from the date of Mr . Donlan ' s patent , if not , indeed , for a longer period . We must , therefore , ( ill the space allotted to us this week with some remarks upon the uses of linseed in the _fattening- of stock .

    ihe lead which was taken by tbo county of Norfolk in improved agriculture bas been fully maintained in the treatment of fatting stock . At tbe bead of the enter ]( rising farmers in the county , it is not strange that we find tbe name of Mr . . John Warnes , of Triniingbam . If would have been . strange if a gentleman so thoroughly imbued with tbe llax mania bad not discovered some means of turning the seed " 111 ( 0 something better than linseed oil and ifs refuse , oilcake . We accordingly find him erecting loose boxes for bis _caffle , and cooking their dinners for ( hem with as much care

    as did M . Soycr for the magnates of the lu form Club . Instead of ( . heir being- blown out wilb two cwf . of frozen turnips and a bundle of bay , given af all imaginable irregular periods , Mr . Warnes' entile are fed with un object , and fed more profitably by other means . The object is fo lay on Mesh and fat , with as little delay as possible , and to accumulate vast , _ipiivntifvcs of manure in the bias ) , condition for agricultural purposes : Tbe means are , housing fhe caffle in warm loose boxes favourable to the exercise of tbeir digestive powers , and food given in such _luiautitics and so prepared that , the meal may be expeditiously eaten with a good appetite , and ample time therefore allowed for that , repose so essential fo the development of fat . Tbe cooking

    _appurafus is simple enough : it . consists of an iron boiler , capable of holding forty gallons , filled with a wooden curb sloping outwards , to prevent , the mucilage from boiling over ; an iron bowl , with bundle ; u small brewer ' s ninshing-sfiek ; a linseed crusher ; u lOO-gallon trough or tub ; a wooden rammer ; a bushel basket ; cball ' -cuffer nnd turnip-cutter ; a fork , with four or live Hat , prongs ; a pail ; a peck measure , wilb handle like that of a pail ; and a . bin lifted up with the necessary partitions for ground and whole linseed , Ac . Most , of the above are already to he found in ICnglish farm-yards . Af any rate , about 10 / . would supply whaUis not there . In summer time Mr . Warnes uses ryegrass and clover , or any other green crop , cut , info chilli" about , an inch in length , mixed with linseed compound . In winter

    * Vide- Leader, Jw Uo, Llii, Lb'., Lli; ...

    * Vide- Leader , JW UO , Llii , lb' ., lli ; 115 , 121 ; 120 .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 11, 1852, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_11091852/page/15/